


Home In The Crosshairs

by EmOhOhAreEe



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Inspired by Sons of Anarchy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-08-02
Packaged: 2019-11-05 21:06:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17926352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmOhOhAreEe/pseuds/EmOhOhAreEe
Summary: No longer able to rely on the law for safety, Betty Cooper flees, running back to the last place she felt truly safe. A place run by outlaws. A place named Riverdale.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is a love child of Riverdale and SOA. It is mostly Riverdale following the story line of SOA season 1 with some tweaks.  
> All errors are my own and truth be told there are probably a multitude of them.  
> I hope you all like it. More chapters coming soon.

Betty stared out the window of the bus and watched as a blur of scenery sped before her. She wondered at everything that had led her to this moment. She had always thought she was out of Riverdale for good. That she would  _ never  _ come back. But she was wrong, obviously as she was headed there at that very moment. She was moving back to the small town in upstate New York. It had been nearly a decade since she had left and never returned. She could still hear the shallow promises of friends stating they would keep in touch. It had all seemed so simple back then, or perhaps more complicated? Betty really wasn’t entirely sure. She assumed everything could have been much worse if they had found the dead body of Jason Blossom on the shores of Sweetwater river. But after dragging the river and sending out dozens of divers looking for him, his body was never found. It wouldn’t be until a year later that the entire town would find out that it was merely a large charade orchestrated by Jason Blossom and Polly Cooper, now Polly Blossom, to escape the clutches of his lawfully crooked parents. Betty herself had found out about the charade nearly two months after the disappearance of her sister. 

Betty could still remember it like yesterday, as if nearly twelve years had not passed since that day. 

_ Betty looked down at the ringing phone in her hands. She didn’t recognize the number and normally her mother would tell her never to answer a call from a number she didn’t know, but rebelling as much as she possibly could, even if it was a small as answering an unknown number, Betty pressed the Call Answer button.  _

_ “Hello?”  _

_ “Betty?”  _

_ The voice of her missing sister had Betty sitting upright in her chair abruptly. “Pol?” _

_ There was a slight sound of breathless laughter on the other end of the line. “Yeah, its me Betty.”  _

_ “Pol where are you? We are all worried sick. The cops have been looking for you all over!” Betty whispered harshly when she heard the sound of her mother banging around downstairs.  _

_ “I know. I know. But this was the only way.” Polly explained or rather didn’t explain at all.  _

_ “What do you mean?” Betty asked confused.  _

_ “For Jason and I to be together, us and the babies.”  _

At the time that had been the biggest shock to ever shake Betty’s fragile system. She had been stunned into near silence as Polly had filled her in on their plan and all that it entailed only after swearing Betty to secrecy. The twins were now eleven nearing twelve. Juniper, or as she preferred Juni, and Dagwood, had the red hair of their father and the green eyes of their mother. Having grown up on what Alice Cooper referred to as the “commie farm”, both children were not like others their age. They were softer, more connected to the earth and its “bounty” but they were also smart as a whip and mischievous at times. Betty smiled slightly at the thought of the two. She was going to be able to see them more than she had in the last eight years. Instead of living across the country she would be a short three hours from her sisters family. Unfortunately, that also meant she would be near her mother as well. The woman had moved further upstate to be closer to Polly to “help out with the twins” though Betty knew that really her mother’s    
“help” was more of a hindrance. Polly had not said as such, much to her younger sister’s surprise. Motherhood and living simply had agreed with Polly. She had calmed considerably and seemed to be so at peace nearly all the time that Betty envied her. 

The last few years for Betty had been turbulent at best. Her career had taken off almost immediately after she had gotten out of Columbia University. She had gotten picked up by the San Francisco Chronicle and she had never looked back...until, well, a few months ago. The blonde looked over her shoulder, a new tick that she was sure would never go away. It was all his fault. Betty scowled internally that her mind had summoned the image Agent David “Davey” Mack.  There was not just annoyance trickling up her spine, there was full-fledged fear and panic. He was the reason she was moving back to her hometown. The last place she could remember feeling safe, Riverdale. 

\-------------------

Betty was forcefully pulled into a bear hug by a large redhead. The green eyed girl hugged him back tightly. 

“Archie.” She breathed into his shoulder. She noted he had gotten even bigger since she had last seen him. He had gotten “man shoulders”. 

“Betty Cooper. As I live and breathe” A poised voice said from her left. 

“V!” Betty launched herself into her friend's arms. 

“Hey, B.” Veronica laughed, hugging her friend tightly. 

“I’ve missed you.” Betty wiped at the moisture collecting in her eyes. She had forgotten how much she had missed everyone from her life before David.

“Well if you had visited a little more maybe we wouldn’t have missed each other so much!” 

Betty rolled her eyes. “You can't fool me into thinking you didn’t enjoy visiting me in California.” 

Veronica flashed pearly white teeth. “Alright, you got me there.” 

The girls had stayed in touch after high school, had even gone to college together but had reluctantly torn away from each other when their careers took them to opposite ends of the country. Betty to California and Veronica to New York. Veronica ended up moving back to Riverdale but took frequent trips to and from the city weekly for her blooming fashion conglomerate. Her and Archie had tied the knot two years back in the Big Apple after an on and off again relationship starting their sophomore year of high school. 

Betty couldn’t help but remember the event with sourness. David hadn’t wanted her to go across the country for the wedding but Betty had gone anyway. She needed to see her two best friends from home say “I do”. When she had gotten back to San Francisco she had run into a very drunk David and a backhand across her delicate cheek. It was the first time he had hit her. They both had stared at each other in shock before Betty went running. She stayed with her friend Bobby for a few days until David tracked her down and begged for forgiveness. Begged for her to go back to her home. He promised he wouldn’t bother her. She had kept her distance from him for a short time but eventually he had wooed her back into his clutches with good behaviour and gifts. She had honestly believed him that it was a one time thing spurred on from the mass amounts of cuervo in his system. Bobby was the first one David threatened to kill when he became completely unhinged just a short year later. 

“What do you say about dropping your stuff off at your apartment and then coming out to Pop’s with us?” Veronica asked. 

“That place is still standing?” Betty asked, already headed towards the Andrew’s car. 

“How dare you entertain the thought that Pop’s would ever let it fall.” Archie chastised her jokingly. 

Betty laughed and climbed into the back seat of the BMW. As they drove through the sleepy streets of Riverdale, the blonde couldn’t help but reminisce about her childhood. Most memories were happy or at least twinged with happiness. It wasn’t until she saw the biker driving past them that she felt nervous energy building in her stomach. She looked closely at the biker wondering if it was  _ him _ , but the body was wrong. Too bulky and wide, with a little too much body fat to be  _ him _ . Her tongue burned with the unasked questions.  _ Was he still here? Did he get out of the town they both swore they would leave and never come back to? Did he end up taking over his father’s reign?  _

\-----------------------------

Betty looked around her small apartment. It was small but nice. Much newer and nicer, not to mention cheaper, than her apartment in San Francisco. Her mind couldn’t help but wander when she realized exactly where her apartment had been built. Or rather what used to stand where her apartment complex stood now. Her mind flitted to the memories of the old drive-in and who it used to house. Betty shook her head. She couldn’t dwell on that right now, she had an article to write. 

\--------------------

_ When Betty had decided to up and run, she had let her boss know some of the details. She told the esteemed Audrey Cooper, no relation, that she was in a domestic abuse situation. What she didn’t tell Audrey was that she had had to visit four different precincts before one would grant her a restraining order against “The Great” Agent Davey Mack. Betty suspected the cop that had finally granted her the restraining order against David had held a personal grudge but she didn’t care. She was just so scared. But she had also been foolish because if four precincts would not give her a restraining order they sure as hell were not about to enforce one. She had to call the officer that had granted her the restraining order when David showed up on her doorstep with flowers and chocolates. He had shown up and had “words” with David, but David’s smirk was enough evidence to her that the restraining order would never be enough to keep him at bay. It wasn’t until he broke into her apartment while she was at work one day and shattered all the picture frames in her house before leaving one framed photo of his own that she knew she couldn’t stay. The photo he had left behind was immediately thrown in the trash when she spotted it. It was a photo of them when they had first started dating. They were on a ferry headed towards Alcatraz to tour the island. They looked happy, and in truth, they had been. They were happy up until the name calling began. They were happy until his fists bruised her body. They were happy until his anger got in the way. They were happy until he threatened to kill her and then attempted such a thing. Betty had prided herself on being a strong woman and she was. She had gathered her courage and she had left after the first punch was thrown. She knew she should have left sooner, she should have left when the first red flags went up. He had been the typical abuser and had waited to start abusing her until they were in a serious relationship. He had slowly cut her off from her friends and family. He had treated her amazing until suddenly he didn’t anymore. It had started slow, so slowly she didn’t truly realize it was happening until he pushed her too far. She had tried to stand up for herself and he didn’t like that; at all. Audrey didn’t know all of that, nor was Betty willing to tell her. She was sure the woman would try to do an expose on the injustice of it all. She would dig deeper into David Mack’s background and why the police were too afraid or too dedicated to the “brothers in blue” ideology to do anything about him. So Betty kept the man's name to herself. Audrey had attempted to pry but Betty had shut it down. Audrey had respected her privacy and offered something Betty had not been expecting.  _

_ “I’m sorry I don’t have a full-time position available for remote work for the time being. A part-time content writer is all I have available.” Betty had nearly tripped over herself to accept the position. She truly did love her job but she knew she couldn’t stay in San Francisco.  _

_ “So where are you headed?” Audrey had asked her.  _

_ Betty admitted she had no idea. She would absolutely under no circumstances go live with her mother. Polly was not an option either. They didn’t believe in polluting their lives with access to the internet. _

_ “Let me ask you this...Where was the last place you felt truly safe?”  _

_ That was how Betty ended up packing all of her things and heading out to Riverdale.  _

_ Betty had made it a point not to tell anyone back in San Francisco where she was headed. She was not sure what lengths David would go to to find her. Flashing his badge was something he did frequently and it scared a lot of people. So she made sure no one knew where she was headed. Even Audrey wouldn’t know. Betty made sure to take various routes back home. Paying for tickets with cash. She knew she couldn’t hide from him forever but she would make it hard as hell for him to find her. _

The ringing of her phone had her snapping out of the memories. She looked down at the number with fear, she always did now, no matter how many times she had changed her phone number. The area code of the screen matched the one in Riverdale. 

“Hello?” 

“Hello, Betty Cooper? This is Principal Waldo Weatherbee.” 

The old grizzled voice of her former Principal had her reminiscing slightly. “Hi Mr. Weatherbee. How are you?”

“Fine. Just fine.” He said waving off the pleasantries. “I was calling about your inquiry for a position at the high school.” 

Betty felt her heart jump into her throat. She had sent her resume in as a hail mary. She needed a secondary income to make ends meet, she didn’t think the school would actually take her. 

“We are looking for a long-term substitute teacher. Mrs. Ross is out on bedrest and we are needing someone to take over her English class as well as the Journalism extracurricular. After glancing at your resume and knowing you from your time here at Riverdale High, I thought you would make a formidable candidate. When can you come in for an interview?” 

Betty covered her mouth slightly to keep in the sigh of relief. “As soon as you would like,” Betty answered with a slight strain in her tone. She was trying to keep back the excitement in her voice. 

“Today? I have an opening at 4:00pm.”

“Perfect. I’ll be there.” 

Mr. Weatherbee sounded pleased when he said goodbye.

\-----------------------

“So Ms. Cooper. We heard you got the job” Veronica’s voice said over the line.

Betty’s brows rose in surprise. “I forgot how fast gossip travels in this town.” 

“Oh, honey. You have no idea. You know when Cheryl lit her girlfriends motorcycle on fire that one time, I knew about it while the flames were still burning.” 

“Cheryl lit her girlfriends bike on fire?” Betty said in amazement. 

“Oh, you weren’t here for that were you?” Veronica mused. “It was crazy. Like certifiable crazy.” 

“Sounds like it.” 

“Soooo” Veronica began making Betty brace herself. She knew what was coming. Veronica only had so much patience and she had waited nearly two weeks before getting to what she had been dying to ask. “What did he do?” 

Betty swallowed harshly. She could feel the bruises all over again. Her throat was sore from his large hands wrapping around her neck. Her eyes burned from phantom bruises long healed but never forgotten. 

“What do you mean?” 

Veronica sighed into the phone. “B. You talked so much about David for over a year then all of a sudden you slowly start pulling away from me, well from us. Kevin mentioned you stopped talking to him all together last year. You stopped picking up your phone. Then out of the blue, you call me and tell me you are coming home. I know you loved your job and the city. So what did he do?”

Betty’s throat bobbed with unshed tears that she refused to let fall. “He wasn’t what I thought he was.” She offered in way of explanation. 

Veronica let out a loud stream of air through her nose. “I’ll be there in ten” 

Before Betty could tell her not to the phone line was dead. “Damnit.” Betty flopped down on the couch and tried to mentally prepare for the onslaught of questions she was going to have to answer. 

\-----------------------

“That motherfucker!” Veronica screamed. 

Betty wiped at the tears on her cheeks with her sleeve. 

“I will murder him! No. No. I will talk to my dad about it.” the dark haired girl seethed. 

Betty placed a hand on her friend's arm to stop her. “Please don’t. He will cause so many issues for Hiram. He is powerful, V and crazy. That is such a bad combo. He has no fear.” 

“So we get the law involved.” 

Betty stood and practically screamed. “Don’t you get it! He is the law! He is a federal agent! I tried to go to the police! I tried. I went to so many precincts but only one would give me a restraining order and then they couldn’t even enforce it! A piece of paper wasn’t going to help me! It never would. I don’t know why I thought it would! He would have to kill me to ever get put away.” Her palms stung from her nails cutting into flesh.

Veronica stood up and gently wrapped her arms around her friends shaking shoulders. “Okay. Okay.” her friend shushed her gently in an attempt to calm her. 

“Please, V. Just…Just drop it please.” Betty begged. 

Veronica looked like she was about to argue but her friend's bloodshot eyes and tear tracked cheeks convinced her otherwise. “Okay…I’ll drop it for now. But if he steps one foot in this town I will kill him myself.” 

Betty smiled slightly at her friend and allowed herself to be hugged for a moment longer. “Please don’t say anything to anyone. Please.” 

Veronica nodded and held out her pinky. “Pinky swear.” 

That earned a watery laugh from the blonde who wrapped her pinky with her friends. “Thank you”.

  
\------------------------------

“Hello class, I’m Ms. Cooper. I’m going to be taking over for Mrs. Ross while she is out on leave.” 

Twenty-five eyes stared at her inquisitively but one pair, in particular, stood out. A pair that was ice blue and fringed with dark black lashes. They were eerily familiar and she wondered who they reminded her of. A whisper from one of the boys in the back commenting on her “rack” had her snapping out of her thoughts, shoving them towards the back of her mind so she could begin class. She began doing roll call, slowly the kids shouted out “here”, “present” or simply “Yeah”. Her tongue seemed to swell slightly when she read the name: Forsythia Jones. Taking a shot in the dark Betty called out the name she had heard the elder Jones say many times. “JB Jones?” 

The girl looked completely relieved for a moment before confusion showed on her face. “Here.”

Betty smiled at her slightly and nodded before continuing on down the list. The rest of class went smoothly but it took quite a bit of effort for her to appear nonplussed by the memories the girl in her class, or rather the girl's eye color, invoked. 

\---------------------

“Ms. Cooper?” A voice said from behind her. 

Betty turned around from where she was attempting to wrestle the blinds in the old blue and gold office. It looked like it hadn’t been used since she had last been in it her senior year of high school. “JB? How can I help you?” 

The black haired girl looked like she was slightly nervous to talk to the blonde. “I wanted to see how you knew to call me JB instead of my other name?” Jellybean finally spit out. 

“Oh.” Betty felt her stomach curl with anxiety slightly. “I was friends with your brother when we were in high school. He always loathed his name. I remember him saying you did too. 

“You were friends with Jughead?” Jellybean asked. 

Betty nodded in answer, her palms sweating slightly at the scrutiny. 

“Really?” Jellybean said with a surprised look on her face. 

“Do I look older than him or something?” Betty joked with a small laugh. 

“No. It’s not that…You just don’t look like my brother's  _ other  _ friends.” The girl blushed brightly as if she wished she hadn’t said anything. 

Betty knew what “friends” JB was talking about. She was talking about the Serpents, about the Snake Eaters, the groupies that flocked around the Serpents themselves. Betty couldn’t look farther from that. She was blonde, green-eyed and dressed like a librarian. She preferred the term sexy librarian but it still stood, she dressed in sweaters and pencil skirts with heels. She definitely was not a Snake Eater who was normally clad in black leather and jean. 

“I know,” Betty said with a kind smile because that answer was easier than saying that Betty and Jughead had been friends and even more before he had joined the Serpents. He had been different then too. He didn’t look like someone that was friends with the Serpents back then. But now she guessed he was embedded deep. A part of her, a very small part hoped he was. She couldn’t lie to herself and say that the Serpents were not a factor in her moving here. Everyone knew the Serpents ran this town. They kept drugs and major crime out while the Sheriff’s office “looked the other way” on their other illegal activities. The Serpent's made sure that their citizens were protected for the most part. And when the government, the laws that upheld the mass of the nation could no longer keep her safe she went to the place where outlaws kept people safe. 

Betty hadn’t noticed that JB had started walking out of the blue and gold office until she was already at the entrance of the door. “Hey JB?” 

The girl turned, her raven waves swinging with the motion. “Yeah?”

“Have you ever thought about joining the blue and gold?”

\---------------------------

Betty stumbled to her car in the rain, attempting a daring balancing act involving hot coffee, papers to grade and her umbrella. 

She had just reached her car when she saw a lone figure sitting under the large oak tree across the parking lot. It was getting dark but she could tell from where she was standing that it was a student. She could see their backpack was currently being used to shield their butt from the wet dirt and they were wearing a heavy raincoat. Betty looked around for another teacher or even a parent but didn’t see anyone. It looked like she was one of the last to leave. It made her feel safer to be in the school with a security guard roaming the halls, even if he was a little bit of an old butter ball. It was better than her apartment that didn’t have any guard to speak of. Betty walked across the wet grass feeling her wedges dig into the mud with a squelching sound. When she drew closer she saw that she recognized the dark tendril of hair peeking out of her hood.

“JB? What are you doing out here?” Betty asked. 

The girl whipped around quickly “Hey Ms. Cooper. I was just waiting for my mom.” 

Betty knew enough about the girl's mom to know that she was not the best parent. Jughead had been abandoned by the woman once and even before the abandonment she was not winning any parenting awards. Betty had always suspected the woman was a junkie but never said anything about it, especially not to Jughead. Betty had just graduated when Gladys and Jellybean Jones had come back into town.  

“How long have you been waiting?” the elder of the females asked with a quirked brow. 

JB blushed slightly. “Not long”

“Since school got out?” 

The girl nodded and looked down at her worn combat boots. School had gotten out nearly four hours ago. 

“Alright. Come on,” Betty said tilting her head towards her car. 

“Where are we going?” JB asked picking her now muddy bag up off the ground. 

“I’m going to take you home. Text your mom and let her know.” 

JB didn’t protest speaking to how drenched and cold she must have been. She quickly whipped out her phone and sent off a quick text. When she climbed into Betty’s car she rubbed her hands together for warmth. Betty turned the car on and blasted the heater. 

“Alright. Where to?”

JB gave her directions to a neighborhood in the Southside. It looked like it was a decent enough neighborhood from what Betty could remember, a definite step up from the dilapidated trailer Jughead had grown up in. 

“How are you liking journalism?” 

JB smiled. “It’s cool” 

“Yeah? Well I think you are an amazing writer.” 

“Really?” JB’s entire face lit up. 

“Truly. You have a gift.” Betty said, a smile gracing her own lips. “Has no one told you that before?” 

JB shrugged. “Well yeah, Jug has but...you know, he is my brother so he is obligated to give me compliments.” 

Betty laughed out loud. “Well, I can attest that he is not just saying it out of obligation. You are a great writer JB. Work on your punctuation a bit and you will be knocking it out of the park.” 

JB nodded and leaned back into the leather seat. They were quiet for a moment before JB reached over and turned up the volume dial. “You like Jefferson Airplane!?”

Betty nodded and began to sing along to the song.  _ Feed your head, feed your head… _

The girls sang along together to a few more oldies songs before Betty was pulling up to the older but decently kept up home. 

“Hey JB?” Betty turned and looked towards the girl. 

“Yeah?” The girl asked pausing in shoving her hands nearly inside the heater vents. 

“I am in my classroom until nearly seven every school night. If your mom, or whoever is picking you up, is late, you can always wait in my classroom with me or in the blue and gold.”

“Thanks, Ms. C.” the girl gathered her backpack and got out of the car. She ran up to the house but turned at the door to wave at Betty. 

 


	2. Chapter 2

“JB?” Jughead called from the kitchen.

“Yeah, it’s me.” his younger sister called back. 

Jughead stood up and walked towards the front door where his little sister was kicking off her combat boots. “What are you doing home early? You were not supposed to be back until tomorrow night.” his stomach dropped slightly at what this must have meant.

JB dropped her backpack and stomped stocking footed towards the kitchen. “I could ask you the same thing. I thought you were not supposed to be home until tomorrow morning? I’m starving.” 

She said and began attacking the pizza that Jughead had ordered for himself. Both of the Jones children had notoriously large appetites. Normally they would each get their own pizza to polish off. He didn’t answer her question instead shooting one of his own at her.

“Why are you not at mom’s?” Jughead took the pizza out of JB’s hands so she would give him an answer. 

“She didn’t show.” JB scowled darkly at him and snatched the pizza back from her brother. 

“What the fuck do you mean she didn’t show? Did you walk home? You know you are not allowed to do that. It is way too fucking dangerous.” Jughead growled, his mind wandering to darker thoughts of what his enemies would do if they got their hands on his baby sister.  

JB rolled her ice blue eyes. “I didn’t walk. I waited for mom. Sometimes she shows up late.” 

Jughead closed his eyes as if in pain when in all reality he was attempting to calm the angry storm brewing inside him. “You waited there since school got out? Why didn’t you call me?! School was out hours ago.” 

His little sister shrugged and continued shoving her mouth full of pizza. He glared at her until she buckled. 

“I didn’t want this third degree to happen.” she explained.

Jughead harshly pulled his phone out of his pocket “This shit is exactly the reason why I didn’t want you having more time with Gladys. She never fucking shows up or keeps her pro….” Jughead stopped in typing in Gladys’ number and looked at his sister. “If you didn’t walk, how did you get home?” 

JB folded her arms over her chest like she was not going to answer. Jughead’s anger bubbled at the thought of a boy bringing his baby sister home. If he had it his way she wouldn’t start dating until she was in her late twenties. 

“Was it a boy?” Jughead seethed. 

Seeing that her elder brother was losing it, JB rolled her eyes and answered. “No, crazy ass. Calm down before you pop a god damn blood vessel. Ms. Cooper brought me home.” 

Jughead’s heart thumped oddly, the way it hadn’t in years since  _ she  _ left. “Alice Cooper?” 

“I don’t know her first name. She is my new English teacher” JB said snarkily before her nose scrunched up in confusion. “It was weird. She said she had gone to highschool with you and that you guys were friends. She didn’t look like your type of  _ friend _ .” 

If Jughead had not been so gobsmacked that  _ she  _ was back, because there was little doubt in his mind that Betty Cooper was in fact back in Riverdale, he would have slapped his sister (gently) upside the head for her insinuation. Not that she as wrong. Betty Cooper did not fit into the mold of women he had been with since high school ended and there was a reason for that. After Betty Cooper had left town shattering his heart into a million pieces he had decided he would go for a woman nothing like Betty Cooper. And he hadn’t. Nearly all of the women he had been with, and there had been many, too many some said, were all dark haired or red headed with dark eyes. Occasionally he had gotten too fucked up and ended up waking up to a blonde with green eyes who said he had called her Betty all night. Those were some of the times that he swore off drinking and grass for good, though it never lasted. 

“So she was a friend of yours? Like a friend friend or a  _ friend _ ?” JB said the last “friend” with an exaggerated wink. 

“Shut up.” He said giving her a stern look but it didn’t last long before his lips quirked. “Don’t you have homework?” 

“Yeah yeah, whatever.” JB said gathering up her backpack and moving towards her room in the back of the house. She stopped at the door, one hand on the frame. “Hey Jug?” 

“Yeah, Jelly?”

“Don’t give mom too hard of a time. She’s battling demons and I’m not hurt…” 

Jughead knew that maybe JB wasn’t physically hurt but her heart was probably hurting. “Do your homework, kid” He said without delivering a promise he couldn’t uphold. Once the girl was in her room blasting some punk rock from the late 90’s he dialed Gladys’ number. He was not surprised that it went straight to voicemail. 

“Seriously Gladys? What the fuck? You couldn’t resist the needle for a single god damn night?” Jughead snarled fiercely. “I don’t know who the fuck you got to sell you that fucking mud but when I find them I’m going to break their fucking legs. Consider yourself cut off. You are going to dry out and until you do, you will not be seeing Jellybean. When you are clean enough to pass a piss test I’ll think about letting you see her again.” Jughead let out another harsh breath before continuing. “And don’t even think about coming around her school or my place. Don’t forget who has custody because you couldn’t step the fuck up for your own daughter.” 

He pressed the end button and tried to calm himself down before he shattered his phone. All it took was one thought about blonde hair and green eyes to have his thoughts shifting to less enraging ones. She had been in town for who knows how long. How had he not known? Why hadn’t Archie called him? Speaking of Archie...It was time probably about time that he check in and see if he had been having any more problems with Ghoulies trashing his construction sights…He picked up the phone again and scrolled through his contacts before pressing send. 

“Hey Jughead!” The jovial redhead answered. 

“Archie.” Jughead answered. “How’s it going?”

“Good, man. Good. Just watching the game.” 

Jughead shoved back the words dancing on his tongue ‘ _ have you seen Betty?’ _ “Who’s playing?” 

Archie droned on about the two teams playing that normally Jughead would have been slightly interested in, considering they had multiple serial gamblers who borrowed money from them for this game but he was distracted. “Interesting. Well, I am calling my contacts around town to make sure we are good and no problems have arisen.” 

Archie coughed slightly on what Jughead assumed was his beer. “Are you expecting trouble?” 

“Nah. Just doing a check up. Making sure there isn’t shit going down in town that I am not aware of.” ‘ _ like that Betty Cooper moved back to Riverdale.’  _ He screamed internally. 

“No. No shit here. Ghoulies haven’t been hanging around my sites since you had a talk with them. Thanks again for that, man”

“What are friends for?” Jughead answered. Though it was more than friendship. The people in town paid the Serpents to keep the town clear of shit like the Ghoulies. It was like a tax, a protection tax. 

“Yeah, well hey, Ronnie is getting home now. I gotta…”

“Before you go I needed to ask you something.” Jughead interrupted. 

“Whats up?” Archie sounded nervous. Jughead knew it was warranted. The Serpent's occasionally had asked Archie to scratch their back after they scratched his more than once. 

“JB came home today talking about a new teacher. Any idea who it is?” 

Archie was silent for a moment. “You didn’t know?” 

“No. Who is it?” Jughead played dumb. 

“Oh…Betty moved back from California a couple weeks ago. We picked her up at the Greyhound station.” Archie explained. “Thought she would have called you up when she got back or you would have heard it through the grapevine.” 

“Oh. Okay. Well thanks for letting me know. I'll talk to you later. Let me know if you have any Ghoulie sightings.” 

“Will do. Thanks man. Bye” Archie said before hanging up. 

So Betty was back, for sure; one hundred percent sure. And he had not heard the news because he had been out on a long run. They had been running their cargo (illegal AK’s and glocks) up to the thugs in New York. It was their bread and butter, at least for the time being. Jughead was constantly trying to think up more legit ways to earn cash for the club. The loan sharking was not illegal per se and they were beginning to make a pretty good profit off of it. He wasn’t sure how long they could last running weapons. They were starting to garner attention that he did not want, specifically from the feds. But this was the way they kept bigger gangs at bay. The Serpent’s sold to the bigger gangs in New York City wholesale weapons with a small markup to persuade them into leaving Riverdale alone. The smaller gangs on their borders they kept at bay with brute force. The Ghoulies, The Skinheads and the Vatos Locos. The Serpent's had man power and weapons that their rivals just didn’t have. So they were able to keep drugs and recruiting out of Riverdale. It was a peaceful town and the Serpents were the reason for that. 

Jughead heard his sisters music quiet down and soon she was walking out of the room and making a beeline for his pizza. 

“No way.” He said and grabbed the box, shoving it on top of the fridge where his little sister couldn’t reach. 

“Oh come on! I’m so hungry.” Jellybean pouted. 

“What’s the magic word?” Jughead asked with a quirked brow. 

“Asshole” She grumbled playfully. 

Jughead snorted. “Try again” 

Jellybean placed her hands on her face and batted her eyelashes dramatically. “Pretty please best big brother in the world?”

“That’s better,” Jughead said with a laugh and passed the pizza box to his sister. He walked to the freezer and pulled out a frozen pizza for himself knowing the one he had ordered was going to be devoured solely by his baby sister. 

“How was school?” Jughead waited for his sisters mood to darken and her to rant and rave about how horrible Riverdale high is.

“Fine.” Jellybean said simply. 

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I mean, it totally sucks ass but it could be worse.” the raven haired girl shrugged. 

“Aw there she is. My eloquent beauty queen.” Jughead joked. “I was afraid you had been mind snatched for a moment there.” 

“Whatever. I still wish I could go back to Southside but my Journalism class is kinda cool.” 

This was news to Jughead. He stood up in surprise from where he was crouched putting the pizza in the oven. “You picked up a journalism class?”

“Yeah! Ms. Cooper teaches it.” Jellybean said excitedly. “She is rad and, holy shit, she knows so much. Did you know she worked for the San Francisco Chronicle?” 

Jughead had, in fact, known she worked for the San Francisco Chronicle. Every year or so when he was feeling especially mopey or at a down point in his life he would look up her articles. She posted under the name Elizabeth Smith, taking on her mother's maiden name as a pen name. She was an amazing writer in high school and had only gotten better with age. 

“No, I didn’t know that. Pretty cool” He lied. 

“Yeah. I mean it’s crazy. She even said my writing is amazing.  _ Her _ . I mean have you ever read one of her articles? To have her compliment my writing was just…” Jellybean let out a mix between an excited breath and a dreamy sigh. 

“I told you, Jelly. You are fantastic.” Jughead said with a fond smile. 

“Yeah but it’s you.” Jellybean said with a dismissive wave of her hand.  

Jughead gave her an indignant glare. “What is that supposed to mean?” 

“You’re my brother. You have to say nice things to me to build up my self esteem or whatever.” 

Jughead rolled his eyes. “I don’t have to say anything. I say it because it is true” 

“Yeah, yeah. That is what Ms. C said.” Jellybean mumbled around a piece of pizza before grabbing the box and trudging to her room leaving Jughead alone with his thoughts of Betty Cooper. He hated himself for admitting it but subconsciously he began thinking of the millions of ways him and Betty could work out this time.

\-------------------------

“You busy?” Jughead said into the phone. He could hear the smacking of Toni’s lips through the other line. He hoped she was just chewing gum, but one too many times Toni had answered the phone while between her girlfriends thighs.

“Nah. What’s up fearless prince charming?” Toni said with a bored voice. 

“I gotta run an errand.” Jughead answered while gathering his wallet and keys. “You wanna come chill with Jelly?”

He could hear rustling on the other end of the line. “What kind of errand?” 

“I gotta teach a lesson.” He answered cryptically. 

Toni let out a pleased sigh. “I’m in.” 

“Good. I’ll tell Jelly you’re coming.” He walked towards his sisters room.

“No, fuck that. I’m not a goddamn babysitter no matter how much I love that little shit.” Toni barked out before covering the phone. “Babe. Jug needs a favor...No I don’t think he would…hold on.” 

Jughead rolled his eyes, he knew what was coming. “Tell Cheryl I will not have a threesome.” 

Toni laughed and delivered the message. “Cheryl says she will stay with Jelly for a hundred dollars an hour.”

“Tell Cheryl that I will ignore all the free booze she gets from the Wyrm and the tune ups you are giving that fucking ridiculous lambo of hers on the clock and we will call this shit even. How about that?” 

Toni accepted and hung up the phone. He popped his head into JB’s room and found her passed out on her bed, her headphones still plugged into her ears. Gently he took the earbuds out, moved her homework from the bed, not before doing a cursory glance of it, and tucked her into bed. This was better than her being awake while he left. She would know what he was up to. She had been around the club long enough to know that revenge was something the Serpents did well. If Jellybean did wake up at least she loved Cheryl. Jughead really didn’t know why. Cheryl was a demon from hell, but Jellybean and her had bonded. He didn’t know what the fuck over, but he didn’t really care. Having Cheryl as a protective hellcat for his sister was good enough. 

Jughead waited until he heard the roaring of Toni’s bike before opening up his garage to start up his own. He gave Cheryl the usual one finger salute as she passed him and ducked into the house. She gave him the same greeting, her ruby nails glinting in the light of his garage and a laughing smile on her painted lips. He smiled to himself, glad that he and Cheryl were at a comfortable place around one another, it had only taken all of their high school years and then five additional ones. 

“Sweets and Fangs are coming. They’ll meet us on the way” Toni told him as he pulled his Harley next to hers. He nodded in thanks. He was glad that they were close enough for her to practically read his mind. 

Jughead took the lead and started down the road. Sweet Pea and Fangs met them off of Main street pulling up behind him as they road down the dark streets of Riverdale towards Greendale. While they drove the Serpent prince felt his anger beginning to boil at the thought of his mom strung out. He thought of what could have happened to Jellybean had the Ghoulies caught wind of his baby sister unprotected. He saw red the rest of the drive. Jughead whipped into the parking lot of the Hairy Dog. He shut off his bike and stalked towards the front doors of the bar. He stormed in and saw the bartender back up with trepidation. The bartender skittered into the back room, not wanting to catch a stray bullet if it came to that. 

_ ‘Smart man’ _ Jughead thought before continuing on his war path. He spotted the Ghoulies playing a round of pool, two of them had their backs turned to him and the other two were too far in their drinks to notice much. Jughead pulled a stray pool cue from the nearby rack and moved to the front of one of Ghoulies. He was the one that had sold to Glady’s before. Skag, as he was known, had just gotten out of lock up. That is why Jughead had not seen him around much. He was the only one dumb enough to sell to the prince of the Serpents mother. Using all of his superior strength Jughead swung the cue catching the Ghoulie across the throat, knocking the man clear off his feet. Before he could catch his barings Jughead was on top of him, landing punches to his increasingly bloody face. Jughead could hear the other fights breaking out around him. He absently recognized Toni’s voice telling one of them to “stand down or I’ll put this bullet in your nut sack. See how you would like to bleed out through your fucking dick.” 

Later he would have to congratulate her on her word usage and the two would laugh. But for now he was focused on beating in Skag’s teeth. Within minutes the fight was over and they had the four Ghoulies on their knees in the bar, guns to the back of their heads. The bar had cleared out before the first punch had been thrown. Junkies were not known for wanting to have the cops around so Jughead didn’t worry about the cops showing up; they had time.

“You know why we are here?” 

“The pussy is better on our side of the tracks?” One of the other Ghoulies mouthed off. 

“Funny. Didn’t think you would know about pussy on either side of the tracks. I heard you guys were all about the dick; suckin’ em, taking them up the ass, you know, all that shit.” Toni said with a dry laugh before cracking the butt of her gun against his skull. “But you can go ahead and take my word for it, Riverdale pussy is  _ divine _ .” Toni drawled.

Jughead took the gun out from the back of his pants and put the business end to the center of Skag’s forehead. 

“We know you are dealing in Riverdale.” Jughead spit on the ground. “We had an agreement. You keep that shit, and yourselves, out of Riverdale and we don’t burn your world to the fucking ground.” Jughead emphasized his point by tapping the barrel of his gun against Skag’s forehead. 

“We didn’t deal in Riverdale.” Skag’s said, blood coming out of his mouth. 

“Bullshit.” Jughead snarled getting close to the mans face. “I’ve got a junkie in Riverdale detoxing that says otherwise.” 

“Who?” one of the other Ghoulies asked. 

“He’s talking about his dear old mommy, Gladys. You know the one...pays in blowjobs.” Skags said with a cackle. Jughead felt his stomach churn at the news, but outwardly didn’t show any change. He walked slowly to the broken pool cue resting on the floor by the pool table. He tucked his glock in the back of his pants before slowly walking back weighing the broken cue in his hands. 

“I gotta say, your mama has got a mouth that can make a man feel…” Skags broke off with a scream as Jughead took the sharp end of the cue and stabbed it into the groin of the ghoulie. 

His crew roared in dismay but the guns of the Serpents kept them in line. Skags groaned and rolled back onto his back, his eyes wide in terror. Jughead kicked the man in the side of the head a few times before backing away at Sweet Pea’s sharp call.

“Time to go.” 

Jughead shoved the barrel of his gun into Skag’s mouth 

“He didn’t cross the boundary!” the youngest of the Ghoulies shouted. “She came here lookin for it.” 

Jughead gave the kid and sadistic smile. “Well take this as a warning.” he turned back towards Skags. “You sell to Glady’s, or anyone in your crew sells to her or crosses the boundary they are going to have a helluva worse problem then a tore up ballsack, you feel me?” 

Skag’s nodded gingerly, still very afraid of the glock in his mouth. Jughead stood up straight and walked from the bar, calmly he hopped on his bike, Sweetpea, Fangs and Toni following close behind. 

* * *

 

Betty waved at Mrs. Thomson the local florist as she walked downtown. The blonde had found herself actually enjoying Riverdale. She had thought that all she had wanted to do was get the hell out of this rinky dink town. But now that she was in it, she found herself loving it. Everyone knew everyone else and though when she was younger that was a pain in the ass, now she was thankful for it. She knew that if David came into town she would know about it immediately. Gossip traveled fast here and a new comer would have the tongues of the towns people wagging faster than usual. So far she had been to a few places in town and people had already known she had been back in town for a few weeks. Normally the girl hung around Archie and Veronica. So far Kevin had come into town only once, but they had all had the time of their lives, drinking wine on the Andrew’s back porch and reminiscing. The only problem was it had felt like someone was missing. Betty knew who, but she would never say it out loud. 

The ringing of her cellphone had her carefree mood evaporating. With shaking hands she looked at the number on the screen. A new wave of anxiety geared up when she saw the name on the caller ID; Alice Cooper. 

“Hi Mom” Betty answered stiffly. 

“Elizabeth, how are you?” 

The younger of the Coopers breathed deeply. “I am good. How are you?”

“You are good? No broken limbs?” Alice began. “Because I would think that my healthy daughter would have visited her mother by now after living so far away from her for the last decade.”

“It wasn’t a decade…” Betty began but was quickly cut off by more of the famous Alice Cooper guilt trip train. 

“I just don’t get it, Elizabeth. Do you hate me? I did my best to raise you girls despite the influence from Hal…” Alice continued for another minute or so before Betty found a moment to interject.

“I will be down to visit this weekend” 

She could practically hear the pleased smile of Alice Cooper coming through the line. “Good, darling. I’ll see you then. Oh, and don’t even think about stopping for road trip food. Remember, a moment on the lips forever on the hips! Bye bye” 

Betty groaned loudly as she hung up the phone. The blonde girl closed her eyes and attempted to control her anger. She had to concentrate hard to relax her fingers before her nails bit once again into her palms. She hated herself for still having this type of release. She had taken enough psych classes in college to know it was a coping mechanism, and an unhealthy one at that, but she couldn’t stop herself all the time. As she was in the middle of her meditative breathing she heard the sound of motorcycles roaring down main street. She looked up in time to watch as eight Serpents drove by. Betty’s eyes were immediately drawn to the bike at that front that currently carried two figures: both she recognized. The female on the back of the bike raised a hand as they passed and waved animatedly. Betty raised a hand in return to wave back to Jellybean but found herself pausing in the motion when Jughead turned his head towards her and nodded slightly before turning the corner out of sight. 

It was the first sighting she had had of the man that she had sworn was the love of her life at age seventeen. Then they had just been children, but now...he was a man. That much was evident by the broad shoulders and thicker muscles. Gone was the wiry frame of a boy and in its place was the body of a man. Betty shook her head trying to dispel the memory of his body as she had once known it. She hitched her purse higher up on her shoulder and continued on her way. She had grocery shopping to do and she was not about to let old memories flood her mind. 

————-----

Betty scrubbed at her face harshly as she graded papers. It was the Monday after her exhausting visit with her mother. She had combated her mother at every turn. Every “fat” comment her mother made Betty backed up with as much self love as she possessed. Though her last years of living away were hard she was thankful for them. They had taught her to let her mothers comments roll off her back or to fight fire with fire. But being on edge the entire weekend had cause her to feel drained and raw, not to mention the hellions that were her sixth period students. By three o’clock she was ready for a stiff drink and to simply be alone. It was now five thirty and she was ready to go home. She gathered her stuff and began to lock up when she heard the scuffing of boots behind her. She turned around to see Jellybean leaving the Blue and Gold office. 

“JB? What are you doing here?” 

The raven haired girl turned to her with a slightly guilty smile. “Hi Ms. C, I was just waiting for my ride.”

Betty felt her heart break for the girl. She was waiting on her mom, Betty knew Jughead would never expect his sister to wait two hours for a ride. “Need a ride?”

JB looked down at her shoes for a minute before nodding and shrugging her shoulders. Once again, Betty led the girl to her car and soon they were off towards her house. They talked about the blue and gold, what kind of articles JB hoped to write about and a little more about music. As they pulled onto JB’s street she began to get quiet and anxious. 

Her quietly muttered “shit” when she saw Jughead’s bike out front gave Betty a clue that he was going to be none too happy with his sister. The blonde saw the exact moment that Jughead notice the car coming towards their house, then the subsequent moment that he realized it was not the car he was expecting to bring JB home. Betty watched as he slowly stood up, his black jeans hanging low on his hips. Her innards twisted slightly as she took notice that he was no longer the lanky teen of their high school years. His shoulders had widened, his muscles were bulkier and he had far more tattoos on his naked torso than he did when she had known that body intimately. His tattoos ran from wrist up to his neck and then back disappearing below his pants line. All vintage in style, because that was just so Jughead, she thought. 

JB groaned loudly from the passenger seat and leaned heavily back in it as if hoping it would swallow her whole.

Betty pulled up to the curb and watched as Jughead wiped his hands on a rag and walked towards the car with confident steps. Betty rolled down the passenger side window, her heart battering her ribs as she did so. It may have been nearly a decade since she had last seen him but try as she might her heart never forgot her first and possibly only true love. 

Jughead leaned into the window and looked at his sister with hard eyes. “Well, this doesn’t look like Sarah and Nicole, now does it?” 

JB winced before beginning to open her mouth, she was quickly cut off by Jughead opening the door for her. “Go ahead and think on that lie you are about to tell me for a minute. Make sure it’s a good one before I ground your ass. Go inside. I want to talk to Betty...Ms. Cooper.” 

Betty placed a hand on the girls shoulder in a sympathetic manner. “I'll see you tomorrow.” 

JB nodded morosely before getting out of the car and trudging up to the house. 

Betty feeling like this was going to be an important conversation got out her car and walked around the front hood. Her stomach flipped with anticipating as to what he was going to say. He stepped closer to her but not nearly as close as her body wanted him to.  

“I should have told Mr. Weatherbee sooner but time got away from me, I guess.” Jughead started. “JB’s mom, Glady’s, is back on the mud...er… heroine.” He corrected himself.  

Betty reached out a hand instinctively and laid it on his bicep “Juggie, I’m so sorry” The blonde was surprised the nickname slipped out, apparently so was he. He started for a moment before giving her a lopsided grin for half a second. Betty withdrew her hand self consciously.

“It’s alright. Gladys has been on and off the wagon more times that I can count. This shit isn’t new to me, but JB doesn’t really remember all the shit, she just sees the illusion Gladys put on 

for her. Now that she is older she is going to see and understand a lot more. I can't hide it from her and to be honest I don’t really want to. Gladys isn’t...She isn’t safe for JB. I have custody of my sister and I recently tried to give Gladys some semblance of her motherly duties back but she dropped the ball so I have had to put some distance between Jb and her. Glady’s isn't allowed to pick up JB, hell, she isn’t allowed to be on school property. If you or someone else sees her there please give me a call.” 

Betty nodded at Jugheads words. “Sure” 

“I'll call Weatherbe in the morning and let him know also. There is probably some form I gotta sign or some shit, right?”

“Yeah. I believe you will have to update her contact information records and release forms. I’m sure Gina at the front desk can get you a new one to fill out. The school will just need to know who you authorize to pick her up and what not.” 

Jughead scrubbed at his face with calloused hands. “Yeah. Shouldn’t be too hard. It would be easier if the little turd wasn’t fucking lying to me about who was taking her home. Twenty bucks says she was texting her mom under my nose and expected the junkie to pick her up”

Betty winced at how Jughead was speaking. It sounded like he had disowned his mother, referring to her as “Gladys” and “her mom”, no our mom or just mom. “She's a teenager, a rather sweet one too. Every teenager goes through defiant bouts.” 

Betty saw the wicked glint his eye and immediately braced herself for a snarky comment.

“I vividly remember being a part of your defiant bout.” His smile had her blushing deeply and she wondered if his mind was racing through the memory of how “defiant” they were at that age. 

Betty lightly shoved at his naked shoulder and let out a chuckle. “Yeah, yeah.”

“You look good, Betty Cooper.” Jughead said after a moment. 

“Thanks, Jughead. You too.” The woman looked into his eyes and felt herself get lost for a moment. 

The slamming of a door inside the house had the two snapping out of their trance. “Looks like she has hit the anger part of her tantrum. Being the defiant and angsty teenager is way better than being on the parent end.” Jughead admitted with a small mirthless laugh. “I better go deal with that. Who knows if she is going to decide to pull a Cheryl and set my bike on fire.” 

Betty laughed along with him. “She doesn’t seem like the type. She is a sweetheart.” 

“Who knows where she got that from” Jughead quipped. 

Betty didn’t hesitate in answering the rhetorical question. “You. She gets it from you.”

Jughead smiled but his eyes held doubt. “It’s been a long time, Betts.”

The blonde shrugged. “Time doesn’t change that much.”

Jughead snorted slightly as if he didn’t believe it or found her reasoning humorous. Betty supposed her confusion over exactly what he meant with that snort proved her point sort of mute. At one point in time they had been so in sync she could practically read his mind. 

The curtains twitching had the two looking up at the front window in time to see a flash of raven curls dart away from view. 

“That’s my que.” Jughead said turning back towards Betty in the steadily dimming light. 

“Yeah I should go grade some papers…” she was reluctant to leave the safe bubble that being in his presence brought. A breeze blew through making her shiver slightly and bring her blonde hair, swirling around her face. A hand came towards her face slowly as if to push the hair from her face, but all her mind could summon was the memory of David’s fist coming towards her. She shrunk away turning her face towards her shoulder as if to protect it from a blow. Feeling embarrassment flood her system Betty chanced a brief look up at Jughead to see his confused glance. 

“You okay, Betts?” He asked looking at her with growing concern. 

“Yeah. Yeah. Totally fine. Just jumpy. Sorry. I’ll let you go.” Her sentences were clipped short and she knew it was adding to his confusion but she couldn’t help herself. All she could think of was that she needed to escape...and now. She stepped away from him and rounded the other side of her car ready to get into the driver's seat and speed away, but one look at her former love had her slowing her movements. 

“It was good to see you, Jughead. Really.”

Still confused but putting it aside for the moment Jughead smiled and gave her a nod. “You too, Betts. I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah, see you around…” Betty moved to get into her car but stopped abruptly. “Hey, Jug?” 

The man turned with a questioning glance. 

“If you ever need help with JB or if she needs a ride home, or whatever, I am more than happy to help. Just give me a call.” 

“Would be pretty hard to do that considering I don’t have your number anymore.” he quipped. Something about his statement made her heart hurt but she smiled through the pain and pulled a stray piece of paper out of her purse before writing her number on it and sliding it across the top of her car to him. He grasped it and looked down at the unknown area code. 

“Ill give you a call. Thanks again for bringing her home.” 

Betty nodded not sure what else to say and quickly got in her car to drive home and comb through every detail of their encounter with excruciating embarrassment. 

* * *

 

Jughead watched her drive away and felt his stomach jumble into a million knots. 

“I’ll give you a call?” He groaned and scrubbed at his face harshly with both hands. Why was he doing this to himself? Betty was a non-option. His heart gave a tug of disagreement but his mind was set. The whole interaction with her had him confused and unsatisfied. The most confusing part of it all was him reaching out to her, to what? Push her hair behind her ear like he had done when they were kids. Even worse than that was her reaction to him. Or was it him? He had seen women act like that. But it was a specific type of woman, a battered woman, an abused woman. Betty may have been mentally abused by her mother from a young age and spanked once or twice by her father as a child but from what he remember she was never beaten. Heaven knows he never touched her in anger and he would have killed anyone that did when they were together. So it must have been after...after she left. His vision went red with the realization. If he ever found out who hurt her he would kill them. It wouldn’t be his first kill. He had killed before when he had no choice. A rival gang member had come after them, threatened his family, the other serpents. It had to be done. And this was not too different. Anyone that hurt Betty, his Betty, would die. 

“My Betty? What the fuck is wrong with me?” he grumbled aloud at his own thoughts.

Trudging inside he braced himself for the fight he was about to enter with JB and wondered if he had the strength for it. 

“Jellybean?” He called out into the silence of the house. 

He heard her shift on her bed. That wrought iron bed she had so desperately wanted was loud as fuck. But she had demanded it looked “Rad” and “so Gothic chic”, whatever the fuck that had meant. He pulled on his undershirt before knocking on her door.

“Go away!” She growled. 

He did the opposite and entered the room.

“I said go away!” She snarled, attempting to sound tough and dangerous, but he could hear the clogged and slightly nasally undertone. She had been crying. He hated when she cried. 

“JB, come on. Don’t cry.” He sat at the edge of her bed and laid a hand on her foot. 

When she looked at him she resembled a pissed off raccoon. Her eyes were black rimmed from her makeup running and then being rubbed into her skin with angry hands. “Why shouldn’t I be angry? You won't let me see mom!” 

Jughead pinched at the bridge of his nose. “JB you are old enough to know why now. Don’t play dumb.” 

“I’m not dumb!” JB screeched. 

“I know you are not! Which is why I know that you know exactly why I can’t let you see mom right now. She is on another fucking bender!” Jughead took a deep breath to steady himself before he outright screamed at the one person in his life he knew he loved fully. 

“Jelly...When she is on a bender she can be dangerous.” He said in a much calmer tone than before. 

“Mom’s never laid a hand on me.” Jellybean said with an angry set of her jaw and her arms crossed over her chest. 

Jughead could think of more than once when his mom laid a hand on him. He wasn't sure if Jellybean had ever been beat, but Jughead knew he had for sure taken the belt for his little sister more than once when Gladys was detoxing and couldn’t deal with her children. “Maybe she hasn’t hit you, but she has left her needles lying around. She has left the stove on for hours at a time while she nodded off. She has left you in a dangerous part  of town while she tried to score. She forgets to pick you up.” Slowly his anger mounted and mounted. “If Betty hadn’t found you out in the rain the other day, what would you have done, hmm? Walked home? Do you have any idea how dangerous it would be if…” 

“If what?  _ Your  _ enemies found me? Sounds like you are the one putting me in danger not mom.”

Jughead felt the blow like a shot to the chest. He took a moment to steady himself before lashing out. “This life, JB, was inherited. I didn’t choose this shit. I was told I had to follow. These enemies, they are inherited from our father. So regardless of my personal enemies, you would still be a target because of who our father is. But while we are on the subject, those same enemies are also the ones your mom buys her smack from, and sis, she isn’t too good at paying up. So If they ever want money that mom doesn’t have they will take payment in a pound of your flesh.” Jughead stood abruptly and walked toward the door. “Either way your mom is dangerous when she is using, Jellybean. As much as you think I wanted to keep you two apart, I don’t. Sober Gladys is just fine for you to be around, its the fucking junkie Gladys that I worry about.” 

With that he closed the door and walked back out to the garage to work on his bike. Banging on bike parts always helped relieve the tension. 

\----------------

Jughead had just gotten out of the shower when he heard the doorbell ring. He threw on a pair of his sweats and walked to the door shirtless. He made sure to tuck his glock in the band of his sweatpants before answering the door. A pizza boy thrust two pizza boxes into his hands nervously. 

“I didn’t order…” Jughead began when he heard JB’s bedroom door open. 

“I did!” The girl said and handed the kid at the door some cash. “Thanks, Aaron” 

The kid blushed furiously and nodded his head before walking back out towards his busted up subaru. 

Jughead closed the door and turned to his sister, brow raised. Jellybean took the top box out of his hands and steadied herself.

“I bought you a pizza to say sorry. I’m not good with this touchy feely stuff, you know? But I’m sorry. I know I’m being a brat and I’m sorry.” 

Jughead nodded his head and gave her a sad smile. “I don’t want it to be this way, JB. I just want you safe.” 

Jellybean waved her hand in the air between them dismissively. “I know. I know. When mom is on a bender she isn’t safe. I know you love me and care about me and all that shit.” 

Jughead laughed lightly. “Yeah and all that shit.”

The two sat side by side on the couch with their pizzas. “Psycho?” JB asked.

“You know it.” Jughead clicked on the TV and soon the two were immersed in the black and white world of Hitchcock. 


	3. Chapter 3

Betty would never admit it to anyone but she checked her phone nearly every five minutes for the three days after she had given Jughead her number. She felt ridiculous within the first hour on the first day but still continued to check her phone. By Monday morning she had stopped checking her phone so frequently and instead focused on work. She felt like she was in high school again, obsessing over a boy, the same boy who was not really a boy anymore. Betty felt her stomach tighten at the memory of him shirtless. 

“No” She chastised herself and continued walking towards the front of the school. She was on pick up duty, meaning she had to supervise the children as they scrambled to their parents cars. She recognized a familiar figure standing off to the side and walked towards them. 

“Ms. C” JB said in happy greeting. 

“Hey, JB. What are you working on?” Betty asked gazing at the notebook the girl had in front of her. 

“Oh...It’s nothing.” The girl answered slightly embarrassed. 

Betty nodded and turned her eyes back toward the parade of cars and students. “I won’t push but if it is a piece you are writing or an idea for a story you don’t need to be embarrassed”.

JB shook her head “No. It not that. It’s a...well...a” the girl stumbled slightly before squaring her shoulders. “I am thinking of writing a book.” 

Betty turned to the girl with a large smile. “That is wonderful, JB! What genre?”   
JB flushed under the praise “Its a fiction. I would love to do a nonfiction piece, but I couldn’t do that to my family.” 

The elder of the two women felt her stomach twist slightly. “So fiction based on a true story?” 

“Yeah. Something like that.” JB tugged at her raven strands for a moment. “I don’t think I could ever publish it but…I don’t know. I want to write it because it…” The girl seemed to not be able to find the words.    
“It helps you escape from your reality? It is a stress reliever?” Betty guessed. 

The raven haired girl looked slightly ashamed. Betty could guess why. The club didn’t take too kindly to their history being in print nor was weakness or “needing” something besides money, booze or sex viewed as acceptable. “Those are important things, JB. You need to have an outlet. You need to have a place to allow your creativity to spread its wings. You need to have a way to escape. Everyone has a way. Some people turn to drugs, alcohol, sex, sports, etcetera. You and I, us creative types, turn to the arts or writing. It’s a good thing, JB. Don’t doubt that.” 

Just as she was finishing up her little speech the sound of a motorcycle roaring pulled her attention away. JB quickly put her notebook in her backpack. 

“Thanks, Ms. C” She turned to walk towards her brother on his Harley before turning back. “Would you mind not telling Jughead about my book...He will want to see it and I don’t think he would like it…” 

Betty nodded and smiled sadly. “I won’t tell a soul.” 

JB thanked her with great relief in her tone before jumping on the back of Jughead’s bike. His black hair was slicked back, so unlike the style he used to wear. She missed his innocent raven curls and the crown beanie he never seemed to take off. She missed when he didn’t wear the leather cut with the Serpents on the back. But most of all she missed the sweet boy that had looked at her like she hung the moon. 

“Betty.” he greeted her with a nod, never dismounting his bike. 

Betty raised her hand in greeting. She realized he needed to say something to her so she walked on uneasy legs closer to his bike. 

“So. I got an email from the school sayin’ I had to show up for Parent-Teacher conference?”

The blonde winced at the slip in her memory. She had been in the staff meeting when they announced those were coming up. She felt her stress levels shoot up and without thought her fingers curled and her nails were digging into the palm of her right hand. Movement from Jughead had her snapping out of her stress bubble and relaxing her hand. He had taken off his sunglasses to look at her, his keen blue eyes focusing on her hand. 

“Um. Yes!” She said with false pep. “Conferences are on Friday.” 

JB began to get antsy tapping her knee against her brother. 

“Is there a reason you want me to jet out of here without talking to your teacher?” Jughead asked his sister over his shoulder. 

“No! I’m just hungry!” JB protested. 

“Ah. The famous Jones hunger. You better get her home before she starves.” Betty teased. 

“God forbid. See you Friday.” Jughead said with a smile. He put his sunglasses back on, nodded to her one last time and pulled out of the lot. Just as he got to the main street another bike that had been waiting on the corner pulled out. Betty guessed it was Toni, though she hadn’t seen the woman since she left Riverdale. As if she knew Betty was looking at her, Toni looked over her shoulder and glared before pulling out after Jughead. 

Betty winced. She knew that Toni was probably not her biggest fan. Toni and Betty had become something akin to friends before Betty left for college. But when her and Jughead had decided to break up, when it became clear he was choosing the club over his future, over  _ their  _ future, she left behind anything and everything that reminded her of Riverdale, apart from Veronica. She had received calls from Toni and even her long lost cousin Cheryl once or twice after she left but she never returned the calls. It hurt too much. It reminded her of him, and she couldn’t take the pain anymore. 

Betty took a deep breath before turning on her heel and heading back to her post. She didn’t have to wait long before all the kids had been picked up or began their walk home. The blonde slowly walked back to her office dreading the long nights she was going to have to prepare for the Parent-Teacher conferences. 

* * *

 

“How are we looking, prince?” Fp asked as they sat around their conference table. 

“We’ve got some shit going on with the Ghoulies.” Jughead answered around his cigarette. 

“Only because the Serpent Prince over here took one of Skag’s nuts.” Toni said dryly.

Jughead rolled his eyes as he put out his cigarette. “No. This has nothing to do with Skag’s now lonely nut. We got intel from the homeless network that Malachi had a sit down with the Skins.”

“What the fuck about?” Fangs asked.

“What the fuck do you think it was about?” Toni snapped.

“Riverdale. They want Riverdale.” FP said angrily. 

“Yeah, and they want it bad enough they are putting aside their racial issues for the moment.” Jughead answered. The Skinheads were a white supremacist gang that rolled around throughout upstate New York and even into New York City. They mostly just cooked and peddled meth, occasionally heroine and sometimes dabbled in low grade cocaine. The feud with the Ghoulies started because the Ghoulies began to make enough money peddling heroin and meth that they were encroaching on the Skins profits. This all would have been worked out if the Ghoulies had been “worthy” of patching over. But in the Skins eyes the Ghoulies were turning their backs on their own race by having multiple gang members of color and various ethnicities. So they were in a constant state of feuding over territory. Greendale was strictly Ghoulie territory, but the Ghoulies always ventured past their boundaries. Th Ghoulies and the Skins now had a mutual enemy...The Southside Serpents. Riverdale was a hub that the Skins desperately wanted to obtain, not to mention they wanted the Serpents to stop running high powered weapons to their enemies; And the Ghoulies needed some more man power to push the Serpents out. They wanted a cut of Riverdale, but Jughead didn’t understand what exact deal had been struck. Had the Skins offered a piece of Riverdale to the Ghoulies? Or did the Ghoulies tell the Skins that they could have Riverdale as long as the Serpents were exterminated. Both seemed like very real possibilities. 

“What are we gonna do, boss?” Mustang asked. 

F.P. looked at Jughead to see what he was thinking. In that way of theirs they had come to a silent agreement. “We gotta bring in more man power. Call the Ottawa and city chapters. Tell em we need some back up.” 

F.P. then turned to Jughead. “You’re gonna have to see Paddy” 

The raven haired man gave an unhappy wince. He should have seen that coming. Paddy was Gladys’ brother and the leader of a small “motorcycle enthusiast club” out of McKees Rocks, PA called The Rebel Sons. They mostly managed pussy and loan sharked. It was good money but they were not into heavy shit. Especially not the heavy shit the serpents were currently into. Jughead not for the first time or the last, wished the Serpents were like The Sons.  

“Paddy never wanted to be heavy hitters. Why would he want to patch over?” 

“Got word that the Skins are looking to run through McKees Rocks. They want a cut of The Sons pussy operation. Paddy turned ‘em down.” 

Jughead swore under his breath.

“He is gonna have to patch somewhere, Jughead. Might as well be with family over the fucking white trash meth heads.” 

“Yeah yeah.” Jughead said, lighting another cigarette. He knew he didn’t have a choice. His Uncle Paddy was either going to get run over by the Skins or they could patch over to Serpents and have some semblance of protection. 

“We are not going to be stretched too thin are we?” Toni asked from beside her grandfather. 

F.P. shook his head. “I’ll make sure we get men from the Ottawa chapter before you leave on Friday.” 

Jughead groaned. “I can’t leave Friday.”

“Why not, Prince?” Fangs asked incredulously.

“JB. She’s got a school thing I can’t miss.”

F.P. looked like he was about to volunteer to go, but Jughead knew that was a lost cause. The parent teacher conferences were on a Friday night. F.P. would be too drunk to go to an official school meeting, not to mention JB wouldn’t want him there. 

“You leave before dawn on Saturday. Meeting adjourned.” F.P. said banging the gavel. 

* * *

 

Betty had obsessed over her classroom, reports and even wrote out a general script to go over during her meetings with the parents. She was generally an anxious person and meeting with the parents of her students did cause her to have some anxiety. But the truth was they were not the main reason for her clenching hands, rolling stomach and jaw clenching. That was courtesy of Jughead Jones. She had thought she had grown out of the worst of the anxiety but apparently being back in Riverdale had brought her back to her teenage emotions. That and her mothers frequent calls and texts to come visit. Ever since Betty had moved back to the east coast her mother had been incessant on seeing her daughter frequently. It was truly awful, but not nearly as awful as the rising tide of anxiety that hit her when the first set of parents showed up. 

* * *

 

Betty tapped her foot against the old tile floor as she waited for Jughead. The meetings with the parents of her many students had gone off without a hitch. She was pleasantly surprised at the ease in which she had conducted with conferences. She supposed it was from her years of journalism. With them, she felt like muscle memory took over, but she just knew Jughead was going to be a different story. There was too much history. 

Fifteen minutes past his conference starting time the raven haired man came rushing in. His pale cheeks were rosey as was his nose and the tips of his ears. It looked like he had been running to her classroom. She nearly laughed at the thought, Jughead Jones running to meet with a teacher; it was ludicrous. 

“Sorry I’m late, Betts” He said slightly winded. 

“It’s okay. You are my last conference for the night.” 

Jughead nodded and sat in the chair she indicated for him to sit in. She sat across from him attempting to put on a show of ease. She picked up her file on JB and began to speak. 

“So JB is doing very well.” Betty began. 

“She got all the brains in the family so I am not surprised” he answered.

“Well, we both know that simply is not true. If I recall when you put even marginal effort into your school work you always scored the highest.” 

Jughead shook his head sheepishly “We are not here to talk about me. Tell me about JB.” 

Betty nodded, feeling a little guilt pool in her stomach. He didn’t want to bring up the past and she shouldn't want to either. But she did. She wanted to talk about the past, feel the way she did in the past. It was silly but perhaps after all of the trauma she had experienced in the last few months at the hand of David she wanted to regain some of the innocence she had back then. 

Betty shook off her thoughts and began to tell Jughead all about JB and her excellent class work. She told him about how she was a talented writer, she wanted to add in that JB was nearly as good as him but kept it to herself. 

“Do you have any questions for me?” Betty asked as she wrapped up their meeting. 

“Yeah...How is she doing with making friends? The move from Southside was rough on her.” 

The blonde nodded her head. “She mentioned that a time or two. I believe she said, and I quote “Riverdale totally sucked ass when I first got here, but its not completely terrible anymore’”

Betty felt her stomach flutter pleasantly when Jughead laughed. “That’s my girl. She can write like a sophisticated and well educated lady but speaks like a one legged sailor with a drinking problem”

“Well. If it makes you feel any better she has found her niche within the school. She is making good friends with Mikah Mason and Danny Tate. They are all part of the Blue and Gold and seem to be getting along very well.” 

Jughead shifted like he was uncomfortable. “Those are both pretty gender neutral names…” 

Betty bit her lip to keep from laughing. “Mikah is female and Danny is male. Do you remember Moose Mason?” When Jughead narrowed his eyes and nodded slightly. “Mikah is Moose’s baby sister and Danny is Pop’s grandson.” 

“His daughters son or his sons son?” 

“I believe his son’s son?” Betty said with some confusion. 

Jughead relaxed marginally. “Good.” 

“Okay…” Betty gave him a moment to expand why that was a good thing but he didn’t so she let it slide. She assumed he had his reasons. “Anyway, they seem to spend lunch together and it looks like they have a few classes together too.” 

“They are good kids?” 

Betty always knew Jughead was more of a parent to JB and himself than F.P. and Gladys were, but to see it in action was different. Endearing even. 

“Yeah, they are. Both get good grades, have never even had so much as a detention.”

The man relaxed ever so slightly in front of her. “That’s good. But even the best kids get into trouble. I mean look at Betty Cooper. She got into loads of trouble and she was damn near the perfect student.” 

Betty felt heat crawl up her spine. “I never liked that word.” She mumbled looking down at her hands. 

“I’m sorry.” Jughead whispered placing his hand over hers. She felt the familiar zing of energy that passed through her nerve endings at his touch. 

“It’s fine.” Betty said pulling her hand away when she felt the overwhelming urge to turn her hand over and link their fingers. “Well that is all I have to report. We do have a research project coming up and I am allowing the kids to pick whatever topic they would like as long as they can write fifteen pages about it. I am letting the parents know so that the kids have some support in choosing a solid topic. I am asking the kids to submit their thesis for approval next week.” 

Jughead nodded before wincing. “I am going to be out of town for a few days, maybe a week. I’m not really sure.” 

“Oh, where are you going?” She asked before she could reign her curiosity in. 

“Pennsylvania.”Jughead looked like he didn’t want to explain more, so Betty didn’t push it. Instead she just nodded.

“Should I be expecting F.P. to pick up JB?” 

“No Cheryl will be hanging out with JB while I’m gone.” 

Betty felt her face pull into a confused grimace before she could control it making Jughead chuckle. 

“Before you ask, yes Cheryl Blossom. She is a demon from hell but JB and her really clicked a few years ago and it never hurts to have an evil hellcat as your sisters body guard. She loves JB” 

Betty felt like her head was spinning on a top. “Well, it’s hard not to. She really is great. You are doing a phenomenal job, Jughead” 

The raven haired man blushed brightly and ducked his head. “Thanks. She makes it easy.” 

“Good.” Betty glanced out her window and saw that it was dark and most of the cars in the parking lot were gone. “Well we should wrap this up. I’m sure you need to prepare for your trip and I need to grade papers.” 

Betty began to walk Jughead to the door before she paused. She looked over her shoulder at the dark night outside and felt her stomach churn. “Jughead...Would you mind walking me out to my car? I’ll just be a minute.” 

Jughead gave her a calculating gaze before his eyes softened. “Of course, Betts. I’ll wait as long as you need.” 

She gave him a soft smile before gathering her files, computer and purse. She walked out the door, locking it behind her. “Thanks for this, after living in a big city the dark scares me a little.”

“How was the city?” Jughead asked as he took the files out of her hands and continued on like this was common occurrence. 

The two of them walking down the familiar halls of their old school brought heartbreaking feelings bubbling to the surface but she pushed them down. “It was wonderful. I loved it. The food, melting pot of cultures and not to mention the ocean...I learned to surf believe it or not.” She giggled slightly before continuing. “I traveled up and down the coast. Tasted some fantastic wine, ate amazing food and saw some beautiful places...It was amazing” She sighed wistfully as she remembered her first few years in San Francisco. 

“So why did you leave and come back here?” Jughead asked bringing her happy memories to a screeching halt. 

Betty looked down at her feet as they walked. “I...It was time to come home.” She answered cryptically. They had made it to her car and she thanked God above that she could escape this line of questioning. “Thank you for walking me out here, Juggie.” 

“Anytime, Betts.” Jughead said as he helped her place her files in her passenger seat. 

The two stood awkwardly unsure how to say goodbye. Betty cleared her throat and began to speak before she could do something stupid like throw herself into the safety of his arms. “Have a good trip in Pennsylvania.” 

Jughead thanked her quietly before turning to head to his motorcycle a few spaces away from her modest sedan. 

“Hey Juggie…” Betty called out to the man. He turned around with a confused look on his face “Be safe” 

He gave her that crooked smile she remembered so well “Will do.” He saluted her before roaring his bike to life. Betty hurriedly jumped into her car and started the engine. She drove home with a small smile on her face because she recognized the single headlight following her to her complex to make sure she made it safely. 

* * *

 

Betty looked down at her phone as she sat watching her guilty pleasure reality tv show and sipping her nightly glass of wine. It was a call from Jughead. She sat up quickly and felt her stomach clench painfully. She wiped her hands on her pajama pants before answering the phone. 

“Hello?” 

“Betty! How are you?” Jughead asked a little louder than necessary. It sounded like there was loud music in the background. 

“Good. How are you?” She asked in return. It had been over a week since she had last seen him at parent-teacher conferences and she still felt horribly awkward about it. 

“I’m okay...Hey I wouldn’t ask unless I was desperate...But it looks like my business is going to take another day or two to wrap up and Cheryl has some business thing in New York tomorrow morning...Is there anyway you can watch JB until I get back? I would ask Archie but I know him and Veronica are crazy busy all the time. Plus I don’t trust them to get her to school on time.”

“I don’t mind at all! I have an extra room she can stay in, unless you would rather I stay at your place with her?” Betty felt...well she didn’t really know how she felt about Jughead asking her to do this. She felt happy? Anxious? Honored? Confused? A conglomerate of all of them she supposed. 

“If you don’t mind, could she stay at your place?” 

“Of course!” Betty chirped mentally thinking of all the cleaning she needed to do before the girl stepped foot into her apartment. 

“Thank you so much, Betts. I really appreciate it. I can pay you…” 

Betty cut him off before he could continue that sentence “Nonsense. I really don’t mind. It will be nice to have some company.” 

“We will see. Can Cheryl drop her off in a few hours?” Jughead asked, his voice nearly drowned by the bumping music in the background. 

“Yeah, sure!” 

Jughead sighed with clear relief into the phone. “Thank you so much, Betts. I’ll text you when I’m on my way home.” 

Betty let him know that was alright before hanging up and jumping from her seat to do a speed clean of her apartment. 

 

* * *

 

“Blondie.” Cheryl Blossom looked nearly the same. 

“Cheryl, how are you? Betty asked opening her door for the redhead and JB to enter. 

Cheryl didn’t answer, instead choosing to judge Betty’s humble apartment. Though she was silent her disapproval was blaringly obvious.

“You guys know each other?” JB asked looking between the two women. 

“We are cousins.” Cheryl said, shocking the girl speechless. 

“Distant cousins.” 

“Third is not so distant, cousin dearest.” Cheryl said in a syrupy voice. 

“I suppose that is true.” 

Cheryl stepped closer to Betty and grabbed her face in that way that Betty had always hated. “You look good. Much better than high school.” 

“Thanks, Cheryl.” Betty barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. 

“Take care of little Jones here. I actually love this one.” 

“She is going to be just fine. We are going to have fun.” Betty said turning her eyes towards JB. 

“Good.” Cheryl let go of Betty’s face, not before pressing a kiss to her lips that was uncomfortable and invasive.

“Tootles.” Cheryl said moving towards the door. “Oh and little Jones...Listen to Betty, do your homework and remember…”

JB finished the woman’s sentence “Don’t take shit from anyone.” 

Cheryl gave her a proud smile before waving her crimson claws in goodbye and walking out the door. 

* * *

 

The first hour with JB was slightly awkward but then the two found their rhythm when they started to talk about all the places JB wanted to travel to. 

“I just…I don’t want to be stuck here forever. I want to get out. I want to see the world.” JB said with conviction.

“I felt the same way.” Betty confided as she stirred the chicken curry. “I got out and I loved every minute of it.” 

JB popped her hip against the counter, her arms folded across her chest in a relaxed manner. “Why’d you come back?” 

Betty knew she should have seen that coming but she was distracted. She took a moment to think about it before answering. She couldn’t tell JB that it was because of a bad relationship. She just knew that would get back to Jughead somehow but she also didn’t want to lie to the girl. “I missed the safety of a small town.” There that was vague enough. She had not thought of David Mack for a few weeks. It had been a nice reprieve but now her thoughts were consumed. 

“I want to leave and never come back.” JB whispered the confession. “Except for holidays and stuff you know. I don’t think Jughead will ever leave so I’ll have to come back to see him sometimes.” 

Betty felt a slight sting at the girls words. Jughead would never leave. She had tried her hardest to get him to come with her but his ties to the club would never allow him to leave. Betty looked at the girl in front of her and realized it wasn’t just the club. Jughead had another reason to stay, an even bigger one and she was standing in Betty’s small kitchen. He had to raise his little sister. How she had not seen this before made her feel slightly incompetent. For so long she had blamed the club and F.P. but in reality it was Jellybean Jones that kept him from leaving. Betty felt the last shred of pain leave her heart at the realization. He had done the right thing by not leaving with her. She would have done the same. 

 

* * *

 

Having JB as a housemate made Betty realize how truly lonely she had been. It was nice having company, even if that company was a fifteen year old. They had just settled down for popcorn and a movie on JB’s second night with Betty when her phone rang. She answered it quickly expecting it to be Jughead. 

“Are you coming to get your sister, yet? She has been insulting my taste in movies and I’m pretty sure she got that elitist attitude from you.” she said with a laugh as she looked at JB who was giggling on the couch. 

“Elizabeth?” 

Betty felt her blood run cold. A small choking noise came out of her throat without permission. 

“Who were you expecting?”

Betty wanted to scream “Not you!” but she couldn’t get any words out of her steadily tightening throat. 

“Elizabeth, can you hear me?” 

“How did you get this number?” She barely got the words out of her mouth. She saw JB look up at her with confusion. Betty gave her a weak smile and walked out of the room shutting her bedroom door behind her. 

“Aren’t you happy to hear from me?” David said in a bright voice. Betty knew just how quickly that could go from bright and sunny to stormy. 

“You are a hard woman to track down, Lizzy. But I think we both needed some time to cool down. But that time is past. I’m cool and I’ve given you more than enough time to cool down. It’s time to come home” 

Betty felt the walls closing in. “No” she said breathlessly. 

“No?” He growled

“No. I am not coming back. We are done, David.” Her voice growing stronger. 

“You are coming back, Elizabeth. Either you come back now or I come and get you.” He snarled into the phone. 

“No, I’m done David. Leave me a alone.” 

“You are mine, Bitc…” he roared into the phone before Betty disconnected the call. 

With shaking fingers she called her carrier and changed her phone number. Texted Jughead her new number telling him she had a problem with her phone and had to change her number. It was a flimsy excuse and she knew it but her scattered brain could not come up with anything better. She wanted to fall apart. Wanted to scream and cry. But right now she couldn’t. So she put on her best Betty Cooper mask and walked out to the living room to a worried JB. 

“Everything okay?” the girl asked, pulling at her bottom lip in genuine concern. 

“Yeah, yeah, just fine.” Betty answered and hoped it was convincing. “So what did I miss?” She asked staring pointedly at the TV. 

* * *

 

Betty jumped near a foot when her phone went off. She looked down at it and breathed a sigh of relief when it was just a text from Jughead.

 

Jughead: I should be rolling in around six tonight. Cool if I swing by and pick the kid up?

Betty: Absolutely. I will make sure she is ready.

Jughead: Thanks.

 

Betty felt like she couldn't keep her mind straight. Since the phone call she was jumpy and constantly looking over her shoulder. She would break out in a cold sweat in the middle of the night, afraid he was there breathing over her. A part of her was thankful Jughead was coming to pick up JB so Betty could fall apart, but the other part of her wanted the girl to stay. David wouldn’t risk witnesses for whatever he had planned for Betty and with JB stuck to her side she was safe, or at least slightly safe. 

 

* * *

 

 

Betty triple checked the peephole before answering the door for Jughead. She felt herself relax for the first time in a few days at the sight of him. She opened the door and greeted him with a large smile. 

“Hi, how was your trip?” 

Jughead stepped into her apartment while running a hand through is raven locks. “Long and a pain in the ass.” 

“I’m sorry.” Betty said as she looked at him. “Come in, take a seat. JB is just grabbing her stuff.” 

“Thanks again for watching her. The run wasn’t supposed to take so long, but some new business came up” 

Betty knew enough about the club to know that what he was subtly telling her is that they ran into some trouble. Either the law or another gang she guessed. 

“Well, JB and me had a blast.” Betty said with false cheer. 

JB came out then with her bag slung over her shoulder. “Yeah, we did. Though Betty’s taste in movies is almost as bad a Cheryl’s...Jug, did you know they were cousins?” 

Jughead smirked at his little sister. “Cheryl and Betty? Oh yeah, we learned that when we were what? Sixteen? Seventeen?” Jughead said tilting his head towards Betty for confirmation. 

She smiled slightly and nodded. How she wished that was the most shocking news she had ever learned in her life.

“What do I owe you?” Jughead asked pulling out his wallet. 

Betty placed her hands over his and shoved his wallet back towards him. “Absolutely nothing. It was a treat to have JB staying with me. It was nice to have her here to break up the monotony.” JB looked between them quickly before speaking. “Jughead, I’m hungry.” 

Jughead rolled his eyes but gave his sister a good natured smile. “Alright, let’s get you some food.” 

“Pops?” JB asked brightly. 

“Sure, what the hell.” He said and placed a muscled arm around his sisters shoulder. “Betty, you wanna join?” 

Betty wasn’t sure if she wanted to. She needed to think of a plan, decide what she was going to do if David followed through on his threat but she also really didn’t want to be alone. “I don’t want to intrude…” Betty answered politely. 

“It’s not intruding! Come on Ms. C” JB said grabbing the woman's hand and practically dragging her to the door. 

Betty laughed loudly and conceded pulling on a pair of ankle boots and grabbing her purse. 


	4. Chapter 4

Jughead laid back on the couch with exhaustion. There was too much shit going on in his life. He had just gotten word from Keller that an ATF agent form California had shown up in Riverdale. That was definitely not a problem they needed. But he would be lying if he said he wasn’t expecting the worst after their shoot out with the Skins at Paddy’s. He knew with a body count they were racking up that there was gonna be shit. The key now was to fucking lay low. But with the Skins and the Ghoulies getting in position to make a move he wasn’t sure if that was possible. 

“Fuckkk” he groaned as he scrubbed his face. 

He didn’t need this shit right now. He felt like in the last few months his life had completely spun out of control. It all started with Betty Cooper walking back into Riverdale. God, he had not realized how much he had missed her. Their night at Pop’s a couple weeks back still haunted his dreams. They had all laughed and teased like no time had passed at all. JB was a new addition but she fit so naturally with the two of them that he felt like she had been there all along. It felt like no time had passed. But time had certainly passed. He had changed, grown harder, more reckless, perhaps lost his humanity. Betty had grown but he wasn’t quite sure why. She was different but still the same girl he had loved at age sixteen. At times he felt like he was sixteen again when he was with her. Especially when they both slid into the same side of the booth. Throughout the meal Jughead could feel her warmth radiating through is sweatshirt and cut. Eventually he got up the courage to put his arm on the back of the booth. She had looked up at him and smiled brightly and there she was. His first love. He fought everything in him to lean in and kiss her. But that would have been stupid. They had had their chance together and they didn’t work out. The reasons they didn’t work out were still there, well most of them. They had never gone away, so a decade of time between them didn’t change anything. Jughead shook off his thoughts when his phone rang. 

“We got some shit you gotta deal with.” Mustang said on the other line. 

Jughead groaned and peeled himself from the couch in the club house above the bar and took off towards the shop.

He saw the cop cars and swore under his breath. Fucking Sheriff Minetta and a Fed. Jughead could spot a Fed from a mile away. This must be the ATF jackoff that Keller warned them about. 

“Jones” Minetta called out. “Glad you could join us. This is Agent Mack from ATF” 

“What’s going on?” Jughead asked shortly. If they had a warrant they would have served it already. 

“We wanted to know your involvement with Paddy Kelly and the incident at his bar, The Black Rose” 

Jughead crossed his arms over his chest and gave the ATF agent in front of him a good once over before answering. “Paddy’s my uncle and I don’t know about any incident. But I’ll have to give him a call. Make sure he's alright.”  Jughead felt, more than heard when Fangs, Sweet Pea and Toni came up behind him. 

“Sure,” Minetta said in a distrustful tone. 

“Mind if we take a look around your shop?” ATF dickhead asked. 

“Actually, I do.” Jughead answered, side stepping in front of his shop making it abundantly clear how he felt about the Agents request.

“Why’s that?” The agent asked getting closer to Jughead. The agent was shorter than Jughead’s six foot four height, giving Jughead the perfect opportunity to look down on the short little prick. 

“Because this is my place of business and I hold a healthy distrust of the law.” 

“Could that be because of the multiple arrests each of your  _ employees  _ has?” Mack asked. 

Jughead smirked to hide his blood boiling. “Nah, its from the trumped up charges that have been brought against myself and my  _ employees  _ that always get dropped.” 

Sensing this could potentially get ugly Minetta got in between the two males. “Thanks for your time, Jones.” 

Jughead nodded in return but continued to smirk at the ATF Agent. This prick had nothing on them. At least not yet. 

 

* * *

 

“Eh! Prince!” Mustang called. 

Jughead popped out from under the hood he was working on. “What?”

“Someone here to see you” Mustang said thumbing towards a familiar blonde head of hair. 

Jughead wiped his hands on a oil rag and came bounding out of the shop towards Betty. Her back was turned but he could see the tension in her shoulders. 

“Hey, Betts” 

Betty jumped slightly but turned back towards him with a timid smile. “Hey! How are you?” 

“Good. What’s up?” Jughead could feel something was off. 

“Uh, my car. It’s making a strange noise” Betty said with a little laugh. “Mind looking into it?” 

Something was definitely up. Betty was a whiz with cars, truly genius level. Before she had left town she had been one of the garages most valuable possession. She could fix anything. Why she was asking him for help threw him off but he just couldn’t tell her no. “Sure thing, Betts. I’ll get on it in a few hours. That okay?” 

“Yeah, totally. Actually...would you mind giving me a lift home? I can have Ronnie drive me back when it’s ready.” 

“Uh, yeah, sure.” Jughead said with confusion but he would never pass up the opportunity to have her on the back of his bike. He popped into the office and let F.P. know he would be back in a few before ducking out and grabbing his keys. 

Wordlessly he led her to his Harley and handed her the helmet. She quickly put it on and pulled the strap tight. She climbed on the back after him and wrapped her arms around his waist. He placed a hand on top of her without thought before jerking back. He needed to reign it in if he had any hope of keeping his shit together. Betty leaned against him, hugging him with her whole body as they drove to her apartment.  When they got there he pulled the bike into a parking spot. He shut the bike off reluctantly and helped her climb off the bike. He watched as she lingered for a second. 

“Hey...Would you mind coming up for a minute?” She asked. 

“Yeah” Jughead's mind was torn. The basic male part of his brain reared up for what this could mean, when a woman invited you up to their apartment. The other, more logical part of his brain could see the trepidation in her words. There was something she wanted to talk to him about, something she didn’t want to say in the open. He followed her up the steps of her apartment and then eventually into the elevator then through her front door. Her scent swirled around him as he stepped into her home. It was a comforting scent, one he had been dreaming of for weeks. 

“You want a drink?” she asked moving towards kitchen. 

“Uh…sure.” Jughead answered confused. It was two in the afternoon. He had never known Betty to day drink. Something was definitely up. 

She handed him a glass with two fingers of amber liquid, downing her own in a single shot. She shook her head as it burned its way down her throat. Jughead gave her a minute to get her thoughts together and build up her courage. 

“I need a gun.” Betty blurted. 

Jughead nodded his head slowly to keep the shock off his face. “You needing a gun have anything to do with that phone call you got while JB was staying here?” 

Betty looked at him shocked. 

“Yeah she told me” He answered her silent question, taking a small sip of the whisky in his glass. 

“I...Uh...yeah.” Betty looked like the fight finally left her. 

“You wanna tell me about it?” Jughead pressed. This was not the Betty Cooper he knew. Sure, she had gotten in shit when they were younger but she was never that frightened. Right now though, she looked terrified and dammit all if his every instinct told him to get rid of all the danger so she could feel safe. 

“Not really.” She answered looking at her feet. 

Jughead nodded. As much as he wanted to know, he wouldn’t push her. She was liable to clam up on him. “Alright. I’ll respect that. But you know if you were in danger you could tell me about it and I would do everything I can to help you.” 

Betty looked up at him with tear rimmed eyes. “I can’t ask you for that.” 

Jughead was taken back by the look of anguish on her face. Something dark had invaded Betty’s life since she left Riverdale and he didn’t like it.  

“You are not asking, I am offering.” He answered firmly. 

“I got it handled.” She said with conviction, her spine straightening out defiantly. 

“That why you need the gun?” Jughead asked dubiously. 

She didn’t answer him, only flexed her jaw. 

Jughead sighed and rubbed at his face with one hand. “Why would you come to me for a gun, Betts? There is a pawn shop in town that sells them.” 

“They do background checks and require registration for the weapon.” 

Internally he shook his head and thought ‘ _ what the fuck did you get involved in?’ _ . “And you don’t want that?” 

Betty shook her head. “I  _ can’t  _ have that.” 

“What are you running from?” He blurted the words that were bouncing around his brain. 

The openness on her face immediately slammed shut. “Nevermind, I’m just drunk and being silly. Sorry for wasting your time, Juggie.” 

He knew she wasn’t drunk. She was always a lightweight, but one drink wouldn’t do her in. He studied her for a long minute. Her blonde hair was curly and in a wild halo around her head. Her cheeks were flushed and the tip of her nose slightly pink from the chill outside. But what set his teeth on edge was the haunted look in her eyes. 

“Alright, Betts. I’ll call you later when your car’s ready. I gotta get back to work.” he answered downing the rest of his drink.

“Thanks for bringing me home.” She said walking him to the door.

Before he left he turned and looked at her one more second. “You change your mind about that secret of yours give me a call.” 

“I’ll think about it.”

He knew what that meant in Betty Cooper speak, “Hell no”. Feeling the need to quell some of the anguish in her heart he leaned down and wrapped her in a hug. It was probably a bad idea. "It was definitely a bad idea!" he screamed internally all the way back to work. He couldn’t focus the rest of the day, instead he envisioned her body pressed against his. So warm and comforting. Once again, his mind tried to work through the way they could be together again.  Perhaps that is what led to his actions after dark fell or maybe it was because he never really could say no to her. 

* * *

Once he got back to the shop he checked out Betty’s car and found that not much was wrong with it except it was low on oil and old. Out of curiosity he looked through the registration paperwork and found that it was registered under Veronica Lodge’s name. He wondered how the hell that had worked out. Veronica would have never driven a car like this. It was old, out of style and had sun damage on the roof. Veronica Lodge was more of a new Mercedes every year type of girl. Jughead shook his head realizing this was none of his business and moved on. He gave the car an oil change before moving on to the next car. When dark finally fell Jughead walked through the small alleyway to the Wyrm. A few regulars were already there, but no one really took notice of him as he walked up the stairs towards his room he kept on the upper floor of the bar. The clubhouse had small apartments of sorts for some of the guys, himself included. It was just a bedroom with a bathroom attached. He didn’t use his room as much since he needed to take JB in, but he kept it for things he couldn’t keep at his own house with a nosey little sister around. The main part of the clubhouse had a kitchen, not that it was used overmuch but it was there if needed. Passing said kitchen, Jughead walked to his room with purpose. He locked the door behind him before taking down the American flag hiding the trap door in the wall. He pulled out the weapon he had in mind and looked it over. A 9mm Glock, free of serial numbers and soon to be free of fingerprints. Grabbing a small box of ammo he carried that towards the common room. He put his leather gloves on before grabbing an box from behind the bar in the clubhouse. Using a rag from the bar he rubbed down the gun and box of ammo, removing any fingerprints he may have left when handling them. He placed them both in the box closing it up tightly and walked out towards Betty’s car.

He saw Sweet Pea smoking outside the bar and called him over. 

“What’s up, Jones?” 

“I gotta take this car back, follow behind in my truck?” He asked. 

“Yeah, man. Keys?” 

Jughead tossed his truck keys towards Sweet Pea and soon they were on the road. As he drove Betty’s little compact car he couldn’t help but chuckle slightly. Her car was just as compulsively clean as her apartment. He basked in the smell of her as they pulled up to her apartment. He knew he was taking a risk by leaving this gun at her home. He was trusting his gut though, and so far it had not led him astray. Shoving down any doubt nibbling at the recesses of his mind he climbed out of her parked car and grabbed the box. He nodded at Sweet Pea letting the man know to keep the truck running and ducked into Betty’s complex. He climbed the three flights of stairs and came to her door. A few hours had passed since he left her there and he hoped she hadn’t left. He put the box down in front of her door, placing her keys on top before knocking loudly and walking down the hall and out of sight. He waited in the stairwell until he heard her front door open. He peeked around the corner and saw Betty bending down to pick up the box. Jughead took that as his cue to leave and quickly made his way out out to his truck. 

\---------------

The chirping of his phone had him looking away from some ridiculous and completely fabricated story that Joaquin was spewing to make people laugh. 

_ Betty 10:30PM: Thank you. <3 _

He could practically hear the sigh of relief behind the text. He smiled and placed his phone back down. Jughead didn’t know what to say in return so instead he turned his eyes back towards his friend and fellow serpent. The smile he had on his face had nothing to do with Joaquin and his bullshit antics now. 

* * *

The first time she saw David in Riverdale she thought she was hallucinating. She had been shopping with Ronnie when she saw what looked to be him in a police cruiser. His blonde hair was cropped short, his stocky frame relaxed as he looked out the window. She had ducked into the nearest store and attempted to calm her racing heart while Ronnie shouted for her to come look at the “cutest romper to grace God’s green earth”.

By the time her second sighting came around she was absolutely sure she had seen him and he had seen her. She felt vomit shoot up her throat when she spotted him as she walked out of the grocery store. He was leaning against her car nonchalantly, as if he was not her worst nightmare come to life. 

“Elizabeth,” He looked like he expected her to jump into his arms as if she had missed him. “I know you did this for my attention. Well love, you’ve got it.” 

Betty shook her head and backed up slightly in shock, her grocery bags weighing down her arms. “No.” 

“Lizzie,” David said reaching his hands out towards her, a soft smile on his face. “Come on. I know I was mad at you and you ran, but I’m not mad at you any more. I forgive you.”

Betty used whatever courage she could gather within herself to step closer to her car and in turn closer to him. She opened the trunk of her car and dumped her groceries in. If she wanted to have a chance of defending herself she was going to need her gun. “David, please move.” she slowly reached her hand into her purse making it look like she was looking for her keys when in all reality her fingers were closing around the grip of her Glock. 

“Listen, I’m trying to tell you something.” He said in a slightly colder tone. 

“I don’t want to hear it.” Betty growled, her anger trumping her fear. 

A sharp grasp on her arm had her gasping loudly. “You are going to hear it whether you want to or not…” 

Like a blessing from above she heard someone yell out  “Ms. C!” 

David swiftly let go of her arm and looked towards the two figures steadily approaching.

“Hi JB!” Betty wanted to cry with relief when she saw Jughead following his sister. 

“Agent” Jughead said in cold greeting and stared hard at David before turning towards Betty. “You alright, Betts?”

“She’s fine.” David snarled darkly. 

“I don’t believe I asked you” Jughead answered just as darkly. “Betts, are you alright?” 

“Yeah, Agent Mack was just leaving” answered glaring at him. 

David’s jaw clenched before he nodded and backed away. “We will finish this conversation later,  _ Lizzie _ .” He got into a dark sedan and sped off.

“Lizzie?” Jughead asked with one brow raised. 

Betty turned red and bit at her nails just for something to do that did not involve looking at Jughead’s face. 

“That guy looked like a dick” JB said breaking the awkward silence. 

Her sentence had Betty cracking a smile. “Yeah, he does.” 

Jughead laughed and pulled his sister under his arm. “Hungry?”

“Always.” JB answered. 

“What about you, Betty?” 

Betty’s eyes snapped up to look at Jughead. “What?” 

“Are you hungry? I’m cooking tonight. Why don’t you come on over?” 

Betty wasn’t sure why he was doing this. He had the look on his face that she used to know. It said something was up his sleeve. But whatever he had planned was better than going home or begging to go over to Veronica and Archie’s house. One look and Veronica would know exactly what was going on. And the last thing Betty wanted was for Veronica or her family to get in David’s crosshairs. Jughead, he could handle himself. Veronica and Archie? Not so much. 

“Are you sure?” 

“I insist” Jughead said with a charming smile. 

It was too charming. Betty knew Jughead had the ability to charm the pants off of any woman if he wanted to. But he hardly ever seemed to want to from what she could remember. So unless he had changed drastically, he wanted something from her and she was pretty sure she knew what. Feeling like this was inevitable Betty agreed. 

“Okay. That sounds nice. Thanks. I’ll follow you over.” Betty answered with small smile.

“Cool!” JB nearly shouted before tugging her brother by the hand towards their old truck. 

The entire drive to the Jones abode Betty felt like someone was watching her. She checked over her shoulder and in her mirrors more than she was sure she ever had in her life, but she never saw any one car following her.  

* * *

Jughead watched as Betty downed the glass of scotch he had given her. With shaking hands she poured herself another. He wondered what she was nervous about. The Agent or him? He knew that she understood he had ulterior motives in inviting her over. She was exceptionally bright, but it didn’t take a bright person to know that something looked fishy here. He had been surprised at first when he saw Betty and that ATF prick talking in the parking lot; that surprise quickly morphed into suspicion and even anger. The dots began to connect in his mind and they did not paint Betty in the best light. His heart protested his thoughts of betrayal. The old Betty, his Betty, would never rat on him or the club. But he didn’t know Betty anymore. He put together the facts he did know. Betty came back to Riverdale. Their club came under scrutiny from dickhead Minetti. Then a few months later ATF shows up like a white knight to aid Minetti. Betty asks Jughead to get her gun, he complies because he is a fucking idiot that can’t tell his ex-girlfriend no. ATF starts sniffing around. And it just so happens that the ATF fucker knows Betty, knows her well enough to have given her a nickname. It was too much for Jughead to let slide. He had to protect the club. So he had given her his most charming smile and invited her over for dinner.

“Save some room for dinner, Betts.” Jughead said with what he hoped was a calming smile. 

Betty looked at him from over the rim of her glass and turned red in the cheeks. She hastily set the glass down with a whispered. “Sorry.” 

He watched her over the stove top as she meandered around his living room. He wished JB would hurry up and get out of the shower so she could at least ease Betty a little with her near constant chatter and journalism questions. When Betty drifted to the window and peered out the curtain Jughead couldn’t hold his tongue any more. He walked up to her and placed a hand on her back gently, rubbing up and down the length of her spine. He felt her stiffen under his hand. His motion had been gentle enough to look like a comforting touch from a friend but he wondered if she knew he was looking for a wire or if she was surprised he was touching her at all. When he didn’t feel one he removed his hand and grabbed his pack of smokes from the counter.

“The sauce needs to simmer for a little. Come out back with me. I need a puff” He said and led her toward the back yard. Far away from her purse that was currently in the mudroom, much too far for hearing distance if she had a bug in her phone. 

He sat down at his patio table and lit up his cigarette. He took a few pulls before looking over at her. “You want some?” He asked holding it out to her. 

Betty stared at it for a long moment before taking it from his hands and taking a drag. She immediately began coughing making him crack a smile. He had never actually seen Betty smoke, knew she didn’t when they were together. A small part of him was testing her to see how much she had changed. Hoping that it would somehow quell the tidal wave of suspicion in his chest. It was very obvious she was still not a smoker. 

“First time?” He asked, taking the cigarette back from her while she continued to cough. 

Her eyes watered and she nodded. “I remember now why I never wanted to try them. How do you smoke those?” She asked in a hoarse voice. 

“You get used to it.” He said with a shrug and took another drag. He stared at her and took in every single detail of her face in the muted light coming from his porch light. This could very well be the last time he saw her. He would never put a hit out on her but if she was working with ATF he would never allow her near JB, himself or the club. His mind took a momentary detour as he began to think about how many strings he would have to pull to get Betty fired from the high school or how far he would have to drive every morning to get JB into the private school two towns over. Southside was not an option any more. Feeling his anger start to rear up at the conflict of it all he finally blurted it out. 

“Who is he to you, Betty?” Jughead asked, tapping his cigarette on the ashtray in front of him. 

“Who?” Betty asked nervously. 

Jughead stared at her and saw fear. “You know who.” 

Betty swallowed thickly, even from his distance across the table he could see that it took mass effort for her to swallow. She was wiping her hands on her jeans and staring down at the tabletop. He strayed quiet waiting to hear what she was going to tell him. 

“His name is David Mack. I knew him in San Francisco.” She started shakily. “We...dated” 

Jughead physically jerked at the news. “Is he the reason you are back in Riverdale?” anger slithering in his tone. 

Betty nodded. “It...We didn’t end well” 

All anger melted away when the tears began to run down her cheeks. Memories began to surface in his tired mind. Betty returning home to a town she swore she would never come back to suddenly and out of nowhere, leaving a phenomenal job in the dust. Only to take a low paying teaching job in a town she hated. Betty flinching under Jugheads hand as if he was going to hit her. He remembered how he had thought those were the actions of a battered woman. JB telling him how Betty had commented that she moved back because she missed the safety of Riverdale. JB telling Jughead that Betty had freaked out when she had gotten that phone call at her apartment. Betty then finding a flimsy reason to get him alone and ask him for a gun. Betty telling him she couldn’t have a registered weapon. It now made sense to him why she wanted an unregistered weapon, because someone with access to the weapon registry could easily look that up. Betty looking as if she wanted to simultaneously cry and vomit from fear when Agent fuckface was talking to her. Her cringe when he called her “Lizzie” and told her they would talk later.

Jughead clenched his teeth hard enough for them to feel like they may break. “You’re not working with him, are you? You’re afraid of him.” 

Betty gave him a confused look. “Why would I be working with him…” It suddenly hit her what he meant. “God, no! I would never do that to you or the club. You guys were like my family for so long. I would never do that! You have to believe me, Juggie!” Her hysterical words had him calming slightly. Betty was a notoriously bad actress and this was not acting. He could see the sincerity in her wide green eyes. 

“I believe you.” He said, grasping her hand across the table. “Why’s he here, Betts? And don’t fucking lie to me.” He said the words softly but there was no doubting his demand for the truth.  

Betty turned her face down at the table with shame. “He’s here for me.” 

“What do you mean?” Jughead didn’t quite understand, 

She looked up at him with a wild look in her eyes. “He’s here to drag me back!” She practically screamed, pulling her hand away from his to run her hands frantically through her hair. “He wants me back and he will take me kicking and screaming if he has to!” 

Jughead stared at her in shock that was quickly morphing into fury. “What did he do to you?”

More tears slid down her face as she looked down at the table. “He…” She swallowed thickly. “It was great the first year. We were great. We really liked each other. But...then he started getting weird. He started to cut me off from my friends. I thought he just wanted to spend more and more time with me but then it got to be too much. I went to Archie and Ronnie’s wedding, even though he didn’t want me to but I couldn’t miss the wedding! I have known Archie and Ronnie my entire life and I needed a little space from him. When I came back from the wedding he was at my apartment, drunk. We fought, he called me horrible names, then slapped me.” 

Jughead’s hands curled into fists and he felt murderous rage begin to build. 

“I left. No one has the right to treat me like that.” She said, wiping the tears from her cheeks. “I stayed at my friend Bobby’s house for a while before I got the courage to ask David for my key back. He gave it back and apologized. I didn’t take him back at first...But he was so persuasive and he was on his best behavior so I took him back.” She clenched her teeth together, her jaw clicking slightly. “I was stupid. So stupid. But I believed his lies and he treated me so well for a little while. But then a year later he started to slip again. He would get mad at me for wearing certain clothes or not coming home at a decent hour. He would accuse me of cheating on him with Bobby who was my only friend that stuck around with David cutting me off from everyone. David wouldn’t let it rest, swearing I was fucking Bobby “like the no good whore I am”” Betty quoted the Agents words before letting out a mirthless chuckle. “Bobby is gay. I don’t even have the right...equipment to appeal to him but David didn’t care. He punched me once when we were fighting. I tried to kick him out then and there but he wouldn’t leave. He hit me again and didn’t stop punching me until I passed out. He waited for me to come back around before he left but not before warning me if I told anyone he would kill me.” Betty started to sob. “I called the cops. They took my statement, but as soon as I said it was Agent Mack they all but stopped listening to me. I went to four precincts the next day trying to get a restraining order. I got it but it's not like they would enforce it. You know that brothers in blue ideology. I went back to work foolishly thinking a piece of paper would protect me but then the stalking began. I tried calling the cop that gave me the order and he would come by and talk to David but it did no good. He still followed me. The last straw was when he trashed my apartment. I knew I had to leave or else he would kill me.” Betty sobbed making Jughead’s heart rip in two. He walked to the other side of the table and sat down in the chair closest to her. He pulled her from her chair and into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her sobbing form and let her cry into his shirt while he planned what to do about the ATF prick. By the time Betty pulled away he had a decent enough plan formed. But he needed to start making calls. He couldn’t outright kill an ATF agent. They would look for the body. He needed to talk to Keller. Get some more info on this prick. 

“It’s going to be okay, Betts. I’m not going to let him get you.” He vowed.

Betty sniffled and pulled away, her green eyes more vibrant due to the tears. “He’s dangerous, Juggie.” 

“So am I” Jughead said in a chilling tone. He stood up, bringing her with him. “I'll be back. You mind staying with JB for the night?” ” 

“No. I’ll stay with her. But Jughead...” Betty said hoarsely. “Please be careful.” 

He nodded at her not sure what else to say. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, surprising her and himself before storming out. He walked past JB on the way out. 

“Watch out for Betty. Don’t open the door for anyone except me or one of the Serpents. You know where my stash is. If someone tries to break in, blow em away.” He told her before stalking out of the house. She knew what his “stash” was. It was weapons he kept in a false wall in his bedroom. He started his bike but not before catching sight of a dark sedan pulling out of his neighborhood at suspicious speeds. He went to the club and saw most of the Serpents were there. It was a Friday night after all. Most of the Serpents partied on Friday nights and most nights he would be there too after he fed JB dinner and waited for her to fall asleep. But tonight was not a night to party. He walked into the Wyrm and spotted Toni at the bar. 

“Get a snake eater to cover for you and gather the main crew. Emergency church.” He barked and headed back towards his dad office, hoping F.P. wasn’t too sloshed yet. 

 


	5. Chapter 5

Jughead sat down to the left of F.P at the large wooden table with the Serpent carved into the center, and waited for the rest of the Original to show. The Original was the upper level of the Serpents. That included Jughead, F.P, Thomas Topaz, Toni Topaz, Mustang, Fangs, Sweet Pea, Slash, Hog Eye, Tall Boy, Joaquin, Sonny, Bishop, Rusto, Otto and Baby Huey. The Serpent's had three main levels, the Originals, the full patch members and the prospects. Then there was the hang arounds, guys that were friends of the club, and then last but not least the Snake-Eaters. Jughead winced at the thought of how many current and past snake-eaters he had fucked. He prayed Betty never heard about it. Jughead rubbed at his forehead harshly. The thoughts of Betty and what she would like and dislike about his sex life needed to go. The shuffling of many feet had him looking up as the Originals came tumbling in. Everyone took their seats and looked at Jughead and F.P. expectantly.   
“Jughead, here knows what is going on with ATF.” F.P. said, only slight inebriated.   
Jughead took a deep drag of his cigarette before beginning to talk. “Betty Cooper, you all remember her.” He said and watched the various nods and one scowl (Toni). Betty was once an honorary member of the Serpents and could have been a full patch member if she had just stayed around. “The ATF prick has a hard on for her.” He took another drag and let out a stream of angry smoke. “Started stalking her in San Francisco. Fucked her up when she told him to get lost. She got a restraining order, his brothers in blue wouldn’t enforce it, so she came back here to get away from him.”   
“So she ran back here because what? She thought we would protect like she didn’t abandon the club,” Toni growled.   
“Ton, come on. Don’t be sour because she left without you getting a taste of that little peach.” Sweet Pea said around his blunt making the crew laugh.   
“How about I cut your dick off and make you my little peach,” Toni snarled and lunged towards Sweet Pea. She was held back by Joaquin and Baby Huey while everyone else laughed.   
Jughead banged the gavel bringing everyone’s attention back into focus. “Alright, alright! Shut the fuck up.”   
He waited until everyone had calmed back down before continuing. “ATF showed back up. Betty thinks he is here to take her back with him. She’s scared shitless. We gotta take care of this”  
“Why?” Toni argued.   
“Because a citizen of Riverdale and friend of the club is in trouble and asking for help. That’s why.”   
“Is she paying us?”   
Jughead starred the girl down with anger flaring in his chest. He knew Toni was still pissed at Betty, but god damnit if she wasn’t yanking at his last nerve right now. “The people of Riverdale come to us when they got a problem instead of going to the law. That means something to me. She asked and I said yes. You got a problem with that Topaz then you can take that problem and shove it up your tight ass because I don’t really give a fuck. This isn’t up for a vote or debate. We are doing it because it helps us and helps her. Betty needs him out Riverdale and we need ATF out of our asses where he will be permanently parked for the remainder of his stay. It’s a fucking win-win,” Jughead snarled staring the woman down until she nodded in submission, still scowling. But it was progress he supposed. Next he laid out the plan.  
“What do we have on Keller?”   
Fangs stepped forward on that. “He still owes us from the drug bust we gave him credit for two months ago, not mentioning the protection detail he had us run on his last merch delivery.”   
Jughead nodded and put out his cigarette in the ashtray in front of him. “Call him. I want him to find out everything he can about this Agent David Mack. Tell him to make the trip to SF personally if he needs to. I don’t give a fuck what he has to do. Tell him he’s got a week max. I want it sooner if he can get his hands on it.”  
Fangs nodded and stepped out of the room.   
“What’s the plan, Prince?” F.P. asked.   
Jughead lit up a new cigarette and took a long calming drag before beginning to talk. “I want a prospect or an associate following Betty during the daylight until we hear back from Keller. People we trust, people that aren’t afraid of a fucking badge.”   
“Who’s watching goody two shoes at night?” Toni asked with a snarl.   
“Who do you think?” Sonny asked with a smirk. “Our esteemed prince here is gonna be watching her real close.”   
Jughead hated himself for wishing he could and in truth he had planned on asking her to stay at his place for the next few days. But he knew by the snickers around the table that they had much less innocent thoughts of what his intentions were.   
“Whatever you need, Jughead.” Thomas Topaz answered. “I always liked that girl. She was sweeter than her mother.”   
There was a laugh that went around the table, Jughead included. Alice Cooper nee Smith, was a notorious hot head when it came to her days with the Serpents. Ginger, one of the retired Snake Eaters turned hangaround, had a scar from forehead to neck from a fight with Alice Smith. Jughead was one of the few that knew the truth of that fight. F.P., who had been with Alice at the time, cheated on her with Ginger. Alice found out and took a bottle of Patrón to the woman’s face, nearly beating it in. That wasn’t the only notable fight Alice Smith had been in. The woman was like a rabid animal when mad, that was before she went Northside and shed her skin for Hal Cooper. Then she became a less honest type of crazy and malicious. Not for the first time Jughead wondered where Betty got her sweetness from because it sure as hell wasn't from her mother or father.  
“What do we do when we get info on the fed?” Mustang asked around his blunt.   
“We use whatever we can to burn him to the ground.” Jughead snarled.   
\--------------  
Jughead spotted Toni heading back to the Wyrm. He walked up to her and took the cigarette out of her mouth, using her burning end to light his own. The two were silent for a few minutes before Jughead had enough nicotine in his system to calm slightly.   
“This anger you got towards Betty. I don’t like it but I understand it. The disrespect towards me, especially in front of the other Serpents...that shits gotta go, Toni. Next time, I’m not gonna ignore it. I’m gonna deal with it like I would any of the other Serpents with a dick and balls. You get too many passes for having a pussy. Because we have known eachother since diapers I’ll let you give me your opinion in private if you feel the need.” Jughead said in a low tone. He saw Toni wince out of the corner of his eye and take a long drag. “You do this shit again, I’m not gonna give you another warning.”   
“I know, I was outta line.” Toni answered. “I just...Jughead I picked up the pieces of what was left of you after she bailed. I don’t want to ever see you that low again. Not for a bitch like that.”   
Jughead fought his instincts to scream at the pink haired girl in front of him for calling Betty a bitch. “I get why she left.” He whispered. “This life, it’s hard. She wanted something else. She wanted to get out. I don’t blame her.”   
“Why’s she back then?” Toni asked with a sharp breath.   
“What do you mean? I just had a whole briefing about it.” Jughead growled.   
“Not that. I mean I know ATF was up her ass. Why the fuck do you think she came back home? Isn't that a place he would look? Why didn’t she keep running? Find some town in the middle of butt-fuck-egypt and change her name?”   
Jughead thought about her words. He wondered where this was going. “The Serpent's” He answered. They had just gone over this in church.  
“No, not the fucking Serpents. You! She came back home to the only man she knows loves her enough to protect her. To the only man that would literally kill for her and wouldn’t care if that man is a fed or not.” Toni sneered. “If only I had that kind of pull over someone”   
Jughead flicked his cigarette to the ground before turning on Toni. “Knock it off, Toni.” He said in warning.   
Toni lifted her hands in surrender. “Alright. Too far.”   
“Way too fucking far,” Jughead growled.   
Toni nodded her head and took a drag. “I just don’t think she is good for you, Jug.”   
“I’m not together with her,” He protested, lighting up another cigarette.   
“For now,” Toni let out a stream of smoke and a long sigh. “I just don't want to see you get hurt again. She crushed you, Jug. She hurt you and our family. She tried to rip you away from us, away from this town. ”   
“But she didn’t and I’m still here.”   
Toni shook her wild hair “But she left and it nearly killed you”   
Jughead wrapped an arm around the woman that had grown to be like a sister to him. “It was first love bullshit. I grew up and I got over it. It’s time you got over it too.”  
“First love dies hard.” Toni grumbled.   
“Says the girl that has been with her first love for over a decade”   
Toni smiled wryly. “Yeah, I guess that is true. Heaven knows I’ve tried to shake her over the years but that bitch has clawed her way into my heart and won't let go.”  
Jughead laughed. Cheryl and Toni had been off and on for years until about five years past. They had made a new turn in their relationship and this time it stuck.  
“Is Betty your Cheryl, Jug?” Toni asked quietly, looking up at him with concerned eyes.   
Jughead dropped his arms from around her to rub at his forehead. “I don’t know.” He felt conflicted admitting that outloud when he had not processed that internally. “Maybe”   
Toni nodded slowly. She knew him better than he knew himself most of the time and from the look on her face she knew what he didn’t or at least what he didn’t want to admit. “Okay, I’ll take first shift on monday watching her.”   
Jughead let out a small chuckle. “Yeah?”   
“Yeah. Looks like I’m gonna have to get over my abandonment issues sooner or later if she is gonna be coming around more.”   
“I don’t think she is going to be…” Jughead began but was quickly shut up by Toni’s loud snort.   
“Yeah whatever, Prince. Isn’t it your watch right now?” Toni turned and stalked back into the bar where Cheryl was waiting.   
Jughead shook his head with affection at his friend’s retreating form before moving towards the garage to get his bike. The ride back to his home was spent with his heart arguing with his mind. He wasn’t sure who was going to win…

\------------------------

He felt his heart win when he found JB and Betty both curled up on the couch fast asleep, their heads at opposite ends but their feet intertwined. Jughead first walked over to his sister and gently shook her shoulder. She jerked awake, thinking he was an intruder and brandishing a kitchen knife.   
“Easy killer, it’s just me” he whispered, looking over at Betty, still asleep. “Get to bed, kid. Thanks for standing guard.”   
JB rubbed her sleepy eyes and slowly stood, saluting her brother in a sarcastic fashion before stumbling her way to the backroom but not before throwing a “love you” over her shoulder and dropping the knife in the kitchen counter.  
“Love you too,” Jughead whispered.  
He looked down at Betty. It looks like she had borrowed some of JB’s sleep shorts and one of his T-shirts. She had chosen his t-shirt from a BACA (Bikers Against Child Abuse) fundraiser run they had done a few years back. Gently he put his arms under her back and knees before lifting her. He carried her towards the back of the house where his room and the spare were situated. He walked down the hallway and felt his chest tighten when Betty curled into him, clutching his shirt in her fist and inhaling deeply. He was lying when he told Toni that he was over Betty and the hurt he felt when she left. He still loved her. A part of him had known that love never faded, that part of him he had buried for years. But now, with her back in Riverdale and back in his life he knew that the love he felt for her was crawling out of the grave he had placed it in like Night of the Living Dead.  
“Juggie?” Betty asked quietly blinking blearily at him.   
“Yeah, babe. You fell asleep on the couch.” He whispered. “You are gonna sleep here tonight, okay?”   
Betty nodded tiredly and closed her eyes again. Jughead carried her the rest of the way to the spare bedroom. He had to fight himself not to put her right into his own bed. He laid her down on the bed and moved to leave but a soft hand grabbing his own stopped him.   
“Thank you, Juggie.”   
“Anything for you.” His whisper nearly inaudible. He pressed a kiss to her forehead before stepping out of the room. Jughead scrubbed at his face harshly as he trudged back to the living room to shut off the Tv and lock up the house. He checked through the curtain looking for a nondescript sedan. When he didn’t see one he decided to head to bed. He took a quick shower, the hot water sliding down his back helped relax his tense muscles. He had a lot of shit to think about, all because of the girl passed out in the other room. As he crawled into bed he began to replay his every interaction he had ever had with Betty. There were regrets but the biggest of them all was not chasing her all the way to California.


End file.
